Revision Strategy Presentations

In my opinion, the presentations went really well. All of the strategies that are in the Curious Writer have good points and should be used for every paper. I really liked going over them because some of the strategies I forget to do and when I forget to do them I don't write well. I was nervous to do the presentation, but I felt Isabel and I did a good job. Over all, I really liked the project. I like doing hands-on activities and interacting with other people. It was a nice change and I hope to take these revision strategies and put them in my papers.

Proposal Essay

Today in class we peer edited our proposal essays. I am so glad we did this because I knew that my paper had some bad things going on in it but it was really hard for me to see what is wrong for sure. So I liked getting feedback from others about what they think is hard to understand and give me advice. I found I need to make my paper flow more and not repeat myself so much.
A second thing that we had to do in class was a group exercise in the curious writer. It so far is really fun and gives me an opportunity to meet with other people in my class and get to know them in a different way. We are making a powerpoint and I really hope it is going to turn out well for us. I feel though that my group got some of the hardest things to make examples of. For one, we don't know how to do examples of how to loop a thesis statement. We think we know what to do but aren't for sure!

Exercise is a must

Thesis:Walking around your college campus, do you see people focusing on their external image?

1) Being in college you get pulled into many bad habits such as eating the wrong foods, not exercising, attending parties on a regular basis, and not staying informed with facts about nutrition.

2) In high school, it was a requirement to have a physical education or health class every year. College students should have the same requirements.

3) Everyone needs to know the effects of everything they put into their body, and if you don’t require us to take a class, we won’t.  

100 People who are Screwing up America

This was a rather different thing to read, compared to what I normally read. Some of it I was rather confused on mostly because I have been rather ignorant and not studied very much history or anything that has happened to America  in the past, so I was a little out of the loop on some of it. Other parts, I just can't believe people believe some of those things. There were a few things that really stood out in my mind. The first was the story of the mom who wouldn't let her daughter fly a flag in their window after 9-11. That is honestly terrible and I myself would like to go and talk to the mom because I just find her to be stupid. I also am ok with people speaking out on how they feel but some people are way to liberal and may need to research their topic before they say some of those things especially on tv or newspaper. It was a really good eye-opener for me because I have never seen any person or heard any of those comments. I learned a lot and it also got me wanting to debate!!

Peer Edit

In high school, I wasn't so sure of Peer editing. Sometimes I would get a person who didn't care about the project so they wouldn't care to read my paper and would give it back to me saying it was perfect and I don't need to change anything. I hate that. No paper is flawless and that is especially true for your first draft. My paper may be good sometimes, but there is mistakes and I will admit that. TOday, gettting my paper peer edited did a little help for me. My partner told me that my paper was very good so it boosted my confidence. She also said there were parts that I should look at to make it flow better; this was the hard part for me because she didn't tell me where she got confused or anything. It's hard for me to notice what is confusing because it all happened to me so I know what I am talking about. I will reread my paper and hopefully see where it is confusing for others. On a good note, I felt is overall pretty helpful to peer edit. It gave me practice and made me open up my eyes to some good things or bad things on others papers that I could work in to my own paper.

Goals

I have many goals and expectations for myself for the future. I aspire to become a Physician's Assistant and get my bachelor's and masters degree. With that, I hope to obtain a minor in spanish. After I get my degree I would like to do mission work in a third-world country for a year or two before I settle down with my life back in South Dakota. Also, I would like to get married someday and have kids. All of these things will take a lot of dedication, but I am willing to do it to make my future what I want it to be.

Dead Poets Society

I will not lie, I really enjoyed this movie. The message that Professor Keating gave was very powerful. "Sieze the Day." We can all use that advice sometimes. I think we get caught up in society and in our own little world that we don't thank God for all that we have been given or even thank our parents for providing us with shelter, food, or clothes. Also, a lot of times when things in our life are tough or they are dreams, we think we can't achieve them, but we can. If we have goals, all we need to do is work towards them and go for it!

Thursdays Class

Today's class was by far an interesting one! There were a couple of things that really stuck out to me. The first thing was the activity that we did when we described all characteristics of men and then of female and in the end we realized how much we are all alike and that Men have some of the same characteristics as women and vice versa. The other thing I really enjoyed was that Lindsey told us we need to relate our topic with the world. I have never even thought about that when I write a paper. For my Literacy paper I plan on writing about my parents separation. It is so vivid in my mind because it is going on now. The month of August my life had been turned around and I have had to deal with many different obsticles facing my family. It will be very easy for me to start writing my paper because Separation and Divorce among couples is very common these days so I will have a lot to relate to. It will be extremely hard for me to write this paper because it digs deep into my emotions but I think it will help me face reality and the circumstance!!

When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine

When I had to read this excerpt I was kinda dreading it because it was so long compared to the other two stories and I was afraid it wasn't going to be interesting. In all reality, this piece was the one I liked the most. It kept my attention the whole time and I wanted to read more; by that, I know the author did a good job writing the story! I found it so inspiring how Mr. Pirzada kept his faith and through the whole story he was extremely calm and didn't show any anger when there was a good chance his family was all dead. He was truly an optimistic guy. I also found it unique how the family allowed him to come to their house every night to eat dinner and watch the news; not many families these days would allow for a someone to do that. It really made me happy to hear his family was all alive- he deserved that because he kept his faith and knew it was all going to be ok in the end!

Medical Literacy

When I was in the sixth grade my grandpa was in the hospital for a brain tumor. At the time my cousins and I had no idea what was going on because we were so young. With the low level of maturity that we had, my cousins, sisters, and I got really bored being up at the hospital every night for three months so we would play hide and seek, sit in the cafeteria, play cards, and our favorite was to ride up and down on the elevators jumping when we hit the right floor we wanted to be on. I can just remember the smell in the hospital. It was as if there were many dead bodies that had been lying there for several days. Everyone that I passed had a dreary look in their eyes as did I. I feel so bad now becasue I could have been spending lots of quality time with mty grandpa before he passed but instead, I decided to mess around and avoid being with him. The last night I had with my grandpa he was very much unconcious and slowly fading away. I got up on his bed and slept with him. That was the first time I really showed my feelings and spent time with him. It was the last time I got to do that. Now, after remembering everything I did I regret it and pray every night my grandpa will forgive me and know how much I really did and still do love him.