End of the Beginning

Well, it has finally come. This is the end of the semester. Though it is the end, it is also the beginning to more classes since this is only my first year. I have more years ahead of me to get to the point where I finally achieve that degree. Even though it is just the first semester, it seems like I have been doing it for a long time. It is going to be a big relief when everything is done and finished and it is time to graduate from college. I know it is a little far, but believe it or not, I have been thinking about it alot! This english class has taught me alot of things. Despite the things I have learned, there are things I feel like I should still brush up on some. Essays were always my biggest struggle, even before college. I always had trouble just starting them. Funny thing is I am such a big procrastinator, that I write better and get everything finished when I am under pressure. I am not real sure that I am going to be able to break the procrastination habit. It's not a good thing, but I can just about guess it is not going to go away. Though I have had some struggles here and there, I think that overall it has been a good semester.

College

For me, school was too much. I was never real good at it. I was always saying that I would be glad to graduate. Now I actually miss high school. College was not something I saw myself going to. But I figured that if I wanted to have a lifetime career, college would have to be the best choice. My parents encouraged me into going to college because they thought that by doing so I could obtain a degree and get a good job. I considered applying for an ECG technician at St. Mary's Hopital or Mayo Clinic instead of going to college. Than while doing that I would eventually start attending college classes. But I just went straight for the college option, and now here I am! I am actually still undecided on what I want to go for, but I have alot of choices floating around in my head. For example I don't know whether I want to go for Surgical Technician, Ultrasound, or Cardiovascular Invasive Specialist. By choosing any of them I am guessing I will most likely enjoy my career. Until then, I am still thinking about it.

Research

Essays have always been a struggle for me. I always have a thought in my head of what I want to say but it is hard for me to get it out on paper. My senior year we had to do a research paper. It had to be about 8-10 pages long. As soon as I heard that I considered myself doomed. At that point I thought even a couple pages was going to be hard. But as I got the hang of it everything fell into place.

I still struggle at times with writing essays but it is getting somewhat better. Some people just aren't cut out to be able to write papers. I think I would be able to consider myself as one of those people. But once I get into writing that first sentence, thoughts start flowing and my pen keeps going!

Fallacies

One fallacy that comes to my mind is when people where hoodies. Trayvon Martin was a victim all because he had a hoodie on and looked "gang-like." He was only seventeen and was carrying a bag of skittles on him. As he was walking home a neighborhood watch man by the name of George Zimmerman followed him. He contacted the police and reported that Trayvon had suspicious behavior. After the phone call Zimmerman continued to follow him and ended by fatally shooting Martin in the chest. When police arrived to the scene Zimmerman told them he shot Martin in self-defense because Martin had attacked him. This was not the case. Did he do this just because Trayvon looked to be someone of a gang? This poor kid had nothing but skittles on him. Did the hoodie make him a bad person? Was he attacked mainly because he was a black person and wearing a hoodie? Would Zimmerman have attacked if it was a young white boy wearing a hoodie? I almost feel he was being racist in the fact that he even thought that this poor young man was being suspicious. He had no right to do what he did. There was no evidence to show that this kid was bad. This is something that really came to my attention.

Fitness

I care about fitness and how you keep yourself healthy. I have gotten to be more into this lately. I have always been into exercise and keeping myself fit ever since I started sports in 7th grade. I spend alot of time during the week working out, whether it be alone or with a friend or sibling. It generally makes me feel better health wise and the way I look. Obesity is getting to be such an issue now days. People need to realize they can only make themselves that way and they can fix the problem. It might be difficult at first but you just have to have the motivation to keep going. People find it easier to have someone be their motivator and help them work out. It is just someone there to push you to make to reach your goals. If everyone were to give a little effort in exercising once in a while and watching the things that they eat, it could be the difference in being happy with yourself or being not okay with your appearance. So keep going!

The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle, which was written by Jeanette Walls, is a very good book. Its inspiring, shocking, funny, and memorable all at the same time. Jeanette explains everything with great detail to know the life she lived and what she went through everyday. There were times in the book I didn't know whether I wanted to feel happy, sad, or even angry.

The Walls family is quite dyfunctional. They had their own way of doing things that might've seemed a bit strange to others. Despite this, they all got along pretty good and always stuck together like a family should. There were times when Jeanette could've gotten taken out of her family if it be her choice. She never did this I think because she loved her family too much and didn't know what would happen. In the end everything turned out good for the kids. They started a new and better life in New York City. The parents, not so much. But that was their own choice to live the way that they did.

Overall the book was very good and I would suggest others to read it.  

"Barbie Doll"

Barbie is every little girls' favorite toy when they are young. She has so many friends and a wonderful boyfriend, who is so very handsome, named Ken. Wouldn't this be the person you want to be like when your older. Barbie set standards for some young girls. She represented beauty, perfection, and the ideal look for young girls around the world. Her beautiful flowing blonde hair, big bust, tiny waist, and just all around perfect figure. All of this is definately not what makes a person ideal. I mean, sure, who doesn't want "the looks?" But by being an all around great person who is fun and has a wonderful personality, shouldn't that be the kind of person we want to be like? If Barbie was real, it is said she would be about 6 feet tall with a 39" bust, 18" waist, and 33" hips. This is thought to be a "full figure" and also to weigh about 110 lbs. Due to her proportions, barbie would have to walk on all fours. This is honestly a scary thought. I think the Barbie image might cause some girls to have eating disorders and have body image issues. All I know is that from seeing this, Barbie is something I hope no girl would want to be like.  

  

Functional and Dysfunctional

What is a functional/dysfunctional family? How do we know if we have one? How would it be defined? There are many different ways we can categorize functional or dysfunctional families. It all depends on how you look at it. Many people think just because their parents, siblings, or just family all together is dysfunctional because of the weird things they might do or say. If thats what makes a family fun, than I can consider my family dysfunctional! I would almost like to call it dysfunctionally functional, really.

But if your looking at it from a different view, functional would be considered having a safe home environment and a place to change and grow. Functional families help children feel loved and appreciated. Children develop self-esteem by having parents demonstrate love and appreciation for them.

So based on how you break it down, there are different ways a family can be functional or dysfunctional. Everyone has their own opinion.

Waterpark of America

This coming weekend I will be spending some time in the cities. In Bloomington there is a great hotel next to the Mall of America. They call it the Radisson and Waterpark of America. It has many great features and it a fairly big hotel. It has many tube slides, a lazy river, and a wave pool. My favorite thing is the Family Raft Ride. It really gets the adrenaline going as your sliding through the big tube and whipping around corners. I started going here a few years ago and try to come at least once or twice a year. It is a great place to get away. Especially in the winter when your just  itching for swimming in the water. This is a place that brings a little summer to you even during winter months. I am going to spend some time there with my sister, her fiance, my nieces, and nephew. It is always a blast everytime we go and I never want to head back home. But who does want to come back when they go on a little vacation? Also, since it is so close to the Mall of America, I get to do some shopping. Which is most definitely one of my favorite things to do!!

Facebook

I am definitely an avid Facebook user. I am probably on there alot more than I should be. It is very distracting too when I am in the process of trying to get my homework done. I think that seeing what people are up to that day and viewing their pictures can be so very interesting.

 Facebook is a way to connect with everyone you know and also keep in touch and see what people you haven't seen in a while are doing. There are also down sides to Facebook. There are a majority of people who post every little thing they do. Do you really want everyone to know that much about you and your life? Facebook has also created alot or arguments between people. Drama is a big issue on Facebook that I have noticed. Some post something in hopes to have their enemy see it and hoping it gets to them. Alot of people post things they really shouldn't. Facebook is also a thing that determines whether you can get a job or not. Many employers check that stuff out to see what kind of person they are hiring. By saying that, I think Facebook has it's pros and cons.

Montana

Currently my friend and I are waiting for an e-mail. We applied to Elkhorn Ranch in Montana for the summer! We talk about it almost everyday. I am really hoping to recieve something very soon. Montana is a beautiful state....I have never been there but from what I have heard it seems to be very beautful. It would be a great experience since there is pretty much nothing here holding me back. Being young and having this chance.....might as well take it! I check my e-mail everyday and cross my fingers that the next day I will finally get something back!! (:

A day with Grandpa Wayne

When I was younger I spent alot of the week at my Grandma and Grandpa's house during the summer. This is where I would go while my parents went to work. Just like any other morning you could hear the coffee maker going as you stepped inside. Also that smell of coffee spread through the house. As I would be walking to the bedroom door and hear the Price is Right on TV, I knew grandpa was up. I would walk in and sit by him on the bed. Once in a while you could see Grandpa pull out the comb from his back pocket to slick back his hair. After the show was over, I would go and get another cup of coffee for him, and when he finshed that we would head out to the backyard. Grandpa loved birds, his favorite being the Yellow Finch. He would take out his bird book and show me all the different kinds we saw out back and the difference between the males and females. I never could understand why the males were prettier than the females though! He had many different feeders for the birds. We would go and get the feed from the shed and fill them up, and something a little sweeter we would give to the hummingbirds. There was also a bag of peanuts he kept in the shed for the chipmunks. Usually if I grabbed a handfull, half of it I would eat myself! (: There was a rock wall into the side of the woods in their backyard where the chipmunks would be. Sometimes grandpa could get the chipmunks to take the peanuts directly from his hands. I tried that so many times, but I would be out there forever trying to get them to take them from my hand. They would always peek through the rocks and than scatter, until I would finally set them on the rock for them to eat. After doing this we would sit outside on the back porch and chat while he enjoyed his favorite Pall Mall cigarette. When it was time for me to go home I knew grandpa would ask me to come into his bedroom to get some sort of candy. He kept them either in his nightstand drawer or a bag somewhere in the room. I always had so much fun at their house and was excited to go back the next morning. Lucky for me if I wanted to visit, their house was in the next town only 5 minutes away. If I had another day with him, I know we would be watching the Price is Right, drinkin coffee, and feeding birds and chipmunks. One thing that will always remind me of my Grandpa Wayne will be a Yellow Finch.

Over-thinking

"Over-thinking ruins you. Ruins the situation, twists things around, makes you worry and just makes everything much worse than it actually is."

This is my favorite quote. I do ALOT of over-thinking and it pretty much gets you no where. It completely jumbles everything up. Over-thinking an answer can sometimes make it wrong. Never stress or worry too much cause doing that makes matters worse, of course! Take everything as it comes and never get too worked up.

College and Writing

College kind of makes me miss high school. I remember how older friends would always say, "I miss high school" or "I wish I could go back to high school." Everytime I heard that I'd always say, "no way will I every want to come back!" But now look at me; that is exactly what I am saying. I also somewhat enjoy college though. Not having to get up as early and having some sort of freedom in a way is kind of nice. I also think of college and furthuring my education as, the beginning of the rest of my life. Earning that degree, finding that perfect job, and hopefuly making the amount of money you always hoped to. Not everyone gets that opportunity to go to college, so you might as well get what you can out of it.

Writing is also not my thing. When you have to read over other classmates drafts in school I always thought everyone used such clever and smart words. To me it was just like how did they think of wording it like that? I am hoping to improve my writing from this class. I am also a terrible procrastinator. Wait.......I think what I actually mean to say is I am a great procrastinator. When it comes to writing I am always putting it off until the last minute. Or maybe I will start and than it's not going the way I want it to so I than put it off until a later date.

I am hoping to learn from my classmates and also learning more about myself so I will try harder to achieve what I need out of school and from there, in life.