Experience

When my teachers in high school would tell our class that we had to write a paper about a previous book we had written that 99% of the time was a book none of us would pick out or about dress codes, drinking age, etc. I know a lot of us dreaded writing these papers especially research papers. I really think this is why I dread writing papers, and not only that sometimes even going to english class. 

Then I realized my junior year in high school I really do enjoy writing papers.  Mr. Shay my teacher let us write about whatever topic we wanted. All my years of writing none of my teachers have ever let us have the freedom of picking whatever we wanted. I was so excited. I knew right away I was going to write about my hobby of showing horses. I finally had the opportunity to show my strong feelings on paper  of showing horses, and how it has changed my life in many ways. I realized when you love what your writing about the paper just flows. I am so glad I had that opportunity because it made me realize writing is not all that bad. 

Technology

Generation Y has become very independent on technology. Some people say it creates laziness. Generation Y has gotten people so comfortable with technology which has led to many young adults so into computer games, face book, myspace, etc. to where they miss what's going on around them. Some kids don't realize the simple risk a photo of themselves can be transferred to thousands of people within seconds. Of course the person they are sending the pic to has promised they will never share it but how often is that promise broken? This is how bad things start especially if you don't know the person.  I think that all the technology we have in our generation is hurting us in a way. There are people out there that don't use it properly. People use it to hurt others, to humiliate people over the internet. Technology is also taking over many jobs. Everyday another company is getting some sort of technological machine to do the work so many people are losing their jobs. Along with that a lot of young people of every generation become less self reliant and less able to cope with life. Pampered and spoiled. This is my opinion on the generation Y technology. Feel free to comment. (:

writing!

                                                          Growing up as a writer

    Last year when our principal came to talk to our whole junior class, and asked who wanted to attend the local community college ICC for their senior year. I thought to myself there is no way I could ever go there my skills are much to low. I knew it was an opportunity of a lifetime though.  What could be better getting two years done in one…especially because I knew what I wanted to do with my life.

 I knew I could get my gen. ed l classes I needed done at ICC then go straight to where I wanted, but there was still that one thing holding me back my skills. I knew I didn’t know much in English only because we could never keep a teacher their. We always hired the young ones and our students would run them off. My mom talked it over with me, and I decided to take the chance. I signed up for my classes not knowing what I was getting myself into.

I am so glad I took the opportunity because I have learned so much in my English class, so much more then I would have learned at my high school. I feel so much more prepared. I am able to feel confident when I write my papers. You have taught me all the different ways or writing, how to set up your papers, and many more things. I can’t wait to learn more things in class, so I am well prepared for English 110.

 

Drinking age

Should the drinking age be lowered like other countries have it such as in Germany, Canada, Mexico, etc? In other countries, drinking is not viewed as an activity as much as in the US. It is ingested as a compliment to a meal. A lot of American teenagers drink because it's like the forbidden fruit to them. If it was legal, there wouldn't be as much of an intrigue to just go out and get as drunk as possible or drunk at all. I'm 17 and I think alcohol behind the wheel takes too many lives away from teenagers. Most teenagers don't have the mental capacity to handle it. Not only that a lot of kids are too immature, and we would have a lot of dead teenagers before they even go to college.
Schools tell people not to drink at all. In reality, most kids drink at some point (not necessarily getting drunk) before they're twenty one, so they're wasting time because most people usually ignore them. Instead of saying, don't do it at all, school health programs should preach minority and limitation. Maybe then people would actually listen and the school would get what they want. These are my opinions on the drinking age. If you have an opinion please share them! (:

Drinking age

Should the drinking age be lowered like other countries have it such as in Germany, Canada, Mexico, etc? In other countries, drinking is not viewed as an activity as much as in the US. It is ingested as a compliment to a meal. A lot of American teenagers drink because it's like the forbidden fruit to them. If it was legal, there wouldn't be as much of an intrigue to just go out and get as drunk as possible or drunk at all. I'm 17 and I think alcohol behind the wheel takes too many lives away from teenagers. Most teenagers don't have the mental capacity to handle it. Not only that a lot of kids are too immature, and we would have a lot of dead teenagers before they even go to college.
Schools tell people not to drink at all. In reality, most kids drink at some point (not necessarily getting drunk) before they're twenty one, so they're wasting time because most people usually ignore them. Instead of saying, don't do it at all, school health programs should preach minority and limitation. Maybe then people would actually listen and the school would get what they want. These are my opinions on the drinking age. If you have an opinion please share them! (:

WIKI!

This past few weeks we have started a thing called “Wiki”. I am not going to lie when I heard this I was like ugg...really this is going to be so boring. Then when you told us we could pick out our own word’s I thought to myself I could make this fun. That’s when I decided to pick out the word that everyone should know about.
That’s when I decided to pick out the word blonde a word that is discriminated a lot in our society. As I said in my wiki Blondes have a reputation for being dumb, clumsy, forgetful, etc. I was even in a dictionary, and that point came up. That’s when I thought enough was enough. I am normally a person who does not express my thoughts nor feelings very well. Well In my wiki I have learned to express my feeling much better. I found it is much easier to do this when I find something I am very strong about. So now that we are getting more into the wiki I am very glad that we have done this project. I think it will help me as a writer in the end. Not only that the wiki is something I look forward to when coming into class.

ABORTION??

I’ve seen over the weeks a lot of people have been doing their opinions on abortion. So I figured I would put my opinion on here as well. I am strongly totally against abortion for these reasons specifically.

First of all most it is murder, unborn or not it is still a child. Refers to the term “Thou shall not kill”. Then if you took the responsibility to get pregnant, take the responsibility to carry the child, raise the baby yourself or place the child up for adoption. Also the procedure for having an abortion is very risky for some women, which may cause severe damage, making it impossible of having another child again, or even dying. Abortion doesn't make you not pregnant; it makes you a mother to a dead baby.

Now there are only two certain circumstances I think abortion is okay in my book. One case would be if the pregnancy is going to put the mother’s life in danger, or if the baby is going to die no matter what is done. Then the other would be if the women was raped or etc. No one should have to go through that horrible, traumatizing thing. No one should be forced to have a living reminder of their rape, and no child deserves to be the product of rape. These are my thoughts and views about it you can leave comments on what you think also.

Writing!

I had to think about this assignment and try to really be honest with myself.  Have I really progressed as a writer?  I thought back to my first assignment right up to our last assignment.  My answer is “yes”, I do think that I have progressed as a writer. 

     There are a couple of reasons that lead me to this decision.   I think that I have gained a lot more confidence in my writing.  I have had to learn to organize my thoughts and convey them in an organized manner in all my writings.  I’ve gotten a lot of experience in writing in different forms from blogs to different types of prompted writings.  In high school, I found it very difficult to even think about writing and I tended to procrastinate.  Now, I don’t even dread working on papers like I used to.

     In addition to all the reasons previously listed, I think that I have come to the realization that I need to work harder in school as I need to get serious about my grades and do well in college. The choices that I make today affect my tomorrow.  I guess, all in all, maybe I ‘ve matured a little bit in my attitude and my work ethic when it comes to doing my best in school.  With all the reasons discussed previously, it’s easy to see why I think that I have progressed as a writer. 

WHAT SCHOOL !?

After Kids are graduating from high school finding where they are going to attend college can be very difficult. I have already made this difficult decision. I am going to attend a junior college for two years. It will benefit me by saving me lots of money especially because I am not for sure on what I want to do in life, and I know I am not the only one that feels this way.

            Not only are four-year universities expensive, but they are even worse if you aren’t sure on your major. Why spend thousands of dollars each year at a university on gen eds when you could be spending much less at the local junior college. In my opinion I think kids should spend two years at their local community college to fulfill their requirements at an affordable price. Then transfer to a University or college that has a good program for your major. Advantages of being at a Junior college is there less competitive to get into, the student’s you meet will tend to be more local and close to your age.

I know your thinking I wont get the whole college experience. You will still get your “college” experience your still going for two years! You will also still meet many people at the Junior College. This is just my opinion. You can tell me what you think though! (:

WAYS OF WRITING!(=

School isn’t always easy for me. I have a tough time writing papers, studying for tests, paying attention, organizing my thoughts, preparing for tests, etc. Sometimes I think I have ADD.  When working on projects, tests, etc. it’s hard for me to stay on task for a long period of time unless I am actively doing something. Therefore, I think there are three ways to make my learning experience easier for me.

            One of the things I try to do is to study for a test 3-5 times for shorter amounts of time. This methods works much better than if I try to study for 2- 3 hours at one sitting. I tend to lose interest in whatever I am studying in less then half an hour.

            Another method that is a must for me is to turn off the T.V, radio, computer, etc while I am doing homework. I tend to lose focus very easily, and do anything but what I need to do…. even clean my room.

            Last but not least, I found out in your class I am a hands on learner. This means I do better in classes that I can relate more to everyday life, and classes that I can learn by doing. I will try to make a conscious effort to pick those types of classes when I can.

            I think that I can be successful in college if I try to follow the three rules previously mentioned that I have set for myself. Even though school isn’t always one of my favorite places to be, I know it is essential for a bright future!(=

Judging and It's implications

 

                                                 Judgment and Its implications

 

            Judging people, animals, objects, ways of life, how people make their living, where they live, etc. are all examples of things people pass judgment on everyday. Even though I am not that old I am aware of the fact that people pass judgment all the time on other kids while they are in school.  Even though adults tell you that change once you graduate from high school, I think passing judgment is something we will deal with all through life.

            People stereotype different breeds of dogs based on what they have heard on the news. For example, pit bulls have gotten a very bad reputation, and people tend to be very scared of them. I think this is sad I’ve gotten to know people who have pit bulls and they are actually really nice dogs. Unfortunately, the media has typecast that breed of dog being dangerous, and not for kids. Therefore people pass judgment of pit bulls and assign them negative characteristics.

            People stereotype how people make their living. For example, my dad doesn’t wear a suit to work, and he makes his living doing physical work. I know that people have judged our family because they don’t consider him to be in a professional position. However, my dad owns his own business and works with people directly from Denmark, China, and other countries all over the world supplying them with wood products.

            Another stereotype in our country is by how we judge people with their material possessions. An example of this is how we judge what people drive. People tend to think if you drive a clunker you must be poor. That is not always true a lot of times people who have money don’t care what they drive.

            I have just given a couple of examples of things that people pass judgment on everyday. We’ve all been judged for something in our life, and we know how frustrating it can be. However, we’ve all been guilty of passing judgment on something we know nothing about. I think it’s very important that people, including myself make a conscious effort to broaden our minds and be more accepting of others and their actions until we know the whole story.  

Writing and how it makes me feel!

            Writing a paper is something that does not come easy for me. I have things that I want to say, but when it comes to putting it onto paper it seems difficult. If I am just thinking about the paper, and doing something else I can think of really good ideas. However, when I sit down to write it I seem to forget what I was going to say. Another problem for me when I write is I tend to procrastinate. When I procrastinate, I make myself feel pressure to write, which makes the whole experience worse. Therefore, my experiences in writing have usually been very tense for me. So when I think of writing I associate it with no creativity, and a lot of tenseness. 

            Since I have all this knowledge, I want to change my writing to a more positive experience. In the future, I am going to have a pen and paper with me when I am starting to think about working on writing assignments to help me write down ideas that start coming into my head. Then when I start on my paper I will have some of those great ideas to help me get started. Also, I plan to not procrastinate and get assignments done ahead of time. Hopefully, if I follow these guidelines my whole writing experience will be much less tense, and end up a much more positive experience. It is my goal overtime that I will actually start to enjoy writing and expressing myself. I plan on working very hard to improve my writing skills because I know they are necessary to be successful in college. 

ME!

Logan Poignant

 

                                                           Introduction

            I would like to introduce myself. My name is Logan Poignant and I live in the country outside of Lacon, IL. I come from a family of five; which consists of my parents, my two brothers, and myself. I have one older brother, and one younger brother. My older brother is already living on his own, so my little brother and I the only ones living at home with my parents.

            My hobbies include playing basketball, bicycling, and riding horses. I spend a lot of time watching my younger brother show horses around the country at the national level. I also feel that I can’t leave out my all time favorite hobby, and that is shopping. I can literally “shop till you drop”.

As I said before in class, I love macaroni and sugar, but my all time favorite is Fettuccini Alf redo from Olive Garden. I’m obsessed with the radio station 92.3, which plays all rap. I enjoy watching the Hills, and Gossip Girls. Gossip Girls has my dream guy, Chase Crawford. In addition, I love hanging out with my friends on the weekends.

It’s really started to hit me how important it is that the  choices I make, and the dreams I reach for will affect my future. I’m starting to realize how important it is that I work hard in school so I can earn a degree and attain a good job for myself. At this point, if I were to share my dreams for my future it would be to get a fashion merchandising degree, and work for a successful designer. My biggest fear right now is not achieving my goal. My silly fear is frogs. I’m deathly scared of them.

My two biggest personal goals for this semester are easy to share. My first goal is to work and study harder and not procrastinate in my classes.  My second goal that I have made for myself is to get all A’s and B’s this semester.