Sunday, December 4, 2011

journal #1

1. Pretend that you are talking to a blind man and have to describe for him what "red" is. You should use narrative and descriptive writing techniques, and try to appeal to his other senses! 



If i was talking to a blind man and had to described what the color red is, i would explain to him how the color is used in our world. In literature it could represent danger, also passion and emotion. Red in our everyday life is mostly used to warn us about something that can psychically hurt us. The stop sign is a bright red which makes it clear that our car needs to stop or you might crash. If something is hot, usually food, there will be a sign that warns you not to touch it in red letters. When i think of red  i think about all of those things plus how it also represents warmth. I would tell the blind man all of this and possibly read him a book that shows the symbolism of the color red. Maybe even give him something warm to touch and tell him that warmth represents red.

journal #2

2. How does competition function in our society? To what extent is it healthy/unhealthy? Offer some real world examples taken from your life, community, culture, state, nation, or world. 


Competition is rarely healthy in my viewpoint. I think its unhealthy when it comes down to playing sports. Sometimes when the players get carried away they purposely hurt members of the other team to win. There has been many cases where players have broken body parts or are even in a short coma because of competition. I also believe competition is really unhealthy when it comes to boxing. Boxers become deformed and most of the time get brain cancer. Black friday is extremely bad competition. I will never go to a store on black friday ever again. A example of healthy competition was at my mothers job; every employee had to put money into a jug for the Ronald Mcdonald House fund and the person who would donate the most money would get a day off. Most of the time there is always just one winner, but in this circumstance both parties won. 



journal #3

3. How have you taken something that you have learned in the classroom and integrated it into your nonacademic life?


Since a child at school i have been taught to treat the kids in your classroom with kindness and respect. I used that out of school and i still use it. You should always treat people kindly for you don't know what they are going through. You also don't have the right to treat them in a mean manner anyways. Even if the other person doesn't treat you with respect, show them that you're the better person and always be kind. It is always better to be polite. You can always say you have been a kind person and not many people get to say that.  Always treat others the way you would like to be treated.

journal #4

4. If you could go back in time and be someone in history, who would you choose to be? Why?


If i could go back in time i would choose to be Charlie Chaplin. He was an original comic and will always be known for his silent clean humor. I would like to see what he went through growing up and all the struggles he had to face as he became famous. I would value my life more if i had gone through what he did. He lived in poverty for a long time and was ripped away from his mother at a young age. Also i would love to know how it feels to be famous and be loved by millions of people all over the world. To know how it feels like to have gone from having nothing to all of a sudden having everything and knowing everybody. Another reason for wanting to be him was because i found out he frequently went to stay over at Hearst castle. That place is beautiful and to stay there would be a dream come true and he was there. I love Charlie Chaplin and his beautiful silent movies that still make everybody crack up.

journal #5

5. If you had the responsibility to decide where $1 million should be spent to improve conditions somewhere in the world, what project(s) would you choose? Why? 


That is a really hard choice in my opinion. All over the world there is people in great need of money and it would take me forever to figure out where i would want a million dollars to go to. After a lot of thinking i would probably send it to the UNICEF program. Its goal is to reduce child mortality rate. They try to prevent deaths that can easily be prevented. UNICEF goes around the world giving water, food, education and everything else they need to survive. Even though there is a lot of other programs and projects i would choose this one. Its helping out the future generation of this world and children that should anyways have all of these things for them. It is sad to see children dying of hunger when there is so much food all around.

journal #6

6. How have you tried to effect change in relation to an issue of personal, local, or national significance? 

journal #7

7. If you could introduce one new idea or material thing to a primitive culture, what would it be? 


 I would choose to show Native Americans the Brita water filter. I would like to show them electricity but theres enough pollution in this world already. It would come in handy many times to have filtering bottles around. There would be less sick people from drinking dirty water since it cleans out most impurities. Water also taste better when its been purified by Brita. Maybe it would help the future if we had started with something along the lines of Brita. There would be less plastic waste from water bottles now since we would be purifying water from the tap. About 70% of the plastic bottles go to waste and are not recycled. It takes up to 2,000 times more energy to produce a bottle of water than it does to produce tap water. This product is what our present world needs. It needs it way more than any primitive culture.

journal #8

8. If you were to describe yourself using a quotation, what would that quotation be? After you have chosen a quote, then write a bit about how it relates to you and reveals what kind of person you are. 



"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."

                        -Dr. Seuss
Naturally i am a very shy and insecure person. I used to always hold my tongue for i was afraid of what others would think if i were to say what is on my mind. As i get older i realize i should not care what people think of me. I should always say what i feel unless its just to hurt someone i should just keep my mouth shut. I should always be me. The people who love me will always accept me the way i am and the people who don't like me do not have to. I do not care about them or their feelings towards me. Being me around people is the only way i will know if a person truly likes me for me and not for whom i act to be like. 

journal #9

9. Given the authority to establish a holiday, what would you choose to commemorate? Why? What would the celebration look like? 



If i could establish a holiday i would choose a holiday from mexico called " Dia del Estudiante" which means day of the student.  The reason for celebrating it is because the students are the future and they deserve to have a holiday for them. I am not really sure if the students get the day off, but in america they would. It is something i could participate in and understand, not like the rest of the holidays that have nothing to do with anything. It makes the students remember that one day they will be the future and that they should try harder at school. Its a holiday i think that should actually be made here. It seems like it would be fun.

journal #10

10. What is the best advice you've ever received? Explain.


Over the years i have gotten many advice from many people. It is usually the common advice every girl receives, like for example the advice to forget what everyone else says or to do what your heart tells you. I have gotten advice that sound like poems and other times the advice I am given is so plain stupid i have to try my best not to laugh at the people who care enough for me that they decided to "help" me. People are always giving me advice even if i do not ask for it. Maybe i should laugh at them. I realized recently the best advice out there for me is "calm down". Its so simple and so clear. I have the tendency to over panic when something goes wrong for me. My heart begins to pound as if i had just ran three miles non stop. I begin to get dizzy and get heat flashes. I become unbearable and a complete mess. So when someone comes around and calmly tells me to calm down, i do. I realize my problems are not that bad and that everything will be okay. I just have to calm down. It is reassuring when someone tells me to calm down and that everything will be okay. To me that is the best advice to give but you know, thats just me.













journal #11

11. Ask and answer the one important question that a university won't ask you, but you wish they would. 


Do you enjoy reading?
I do not enjoy reading, i love reading. Books take you to places unknown and introduces you to new people. Whenever i am sad i simply pick up a book and begin reading. People say books are for those who wish they were somewhere else and in my case is true. Books make my mind think and keep me more entertained than television.  You can create worlds in your head and feel whatever the characters feel. It is as though you are in another persons life, it is pretty amazing if you ask me. The Hunger Games is a well written book that keeps me on my toes. The book Heaven written by my favorite author V.C Andrews kept me amused all the way through. It is entertainment and i can spend all day reading if i could.



journal #12

12. Your life is a movie. Describe the first 15 minutes.


I wake up to the sound of a loud thrumming guitar. Quickly i open my eyes to find it is still pitch black and that the noise is my alarm clock. Thanks for another heart attack alarm clock. I get up as fast as i can and try not to think about how early it really is or ill never get up.  Around six my mother drops me and my brother off at my grandmas for she has to work. Sadly i get out of the car. Ever since i can remember every morning is heart break for me. I hate parting from my mother. I enter my grandmas house and hug her. She's so cute to hug since she is only 5'2. Once i've said my hellos and have sat down at the couch i finally do my favorite thing to do in the morning. I check my phone and see his good morning text. I always smile to myself when i open my phone and find his name under " new text message". Once i reply i turn on the tv to my favorite channel of black and white movies and imagine myself with my dream pixie cut. Around 7:45 i arrive to school and the first person i see is him. His big smile always brightens my day and makes me quicken my pace just to hug him.



journal #13

13. Write a letter to your future college roommate introducing yourself and your background. 


To my future roommate,


hello my name is Jane Doe and I'm your future roommate!. This might seem weird but i decided to write you a note just so you can get the essence of who i am. I am extremely shy and i wanted to warn you in advanced so i wouldn't come off as a snob stuck up white girl. I said that because people who became my friends later on told me that thats how they perceived me. i think its pretty funny though since I'm clearly not white, I'm mexican. My lack of social skills have always been a problem so i decided to start off right with you. i hope you understand my embarrassing letter and take into consideration that at first i might be too quiet but if you open up to me ill surely open up for you. Also i become restless at night and might get up and start doing things so i wont over think and get all paranoid over nothing. Ill probably always just go take a walk, but if i stay i promise to be as noiseless as i possibly can be. This is all i wanted to share with you and i hope this letter wasn't that freaky. I cant wait to actually meet you and if you wouldn't mind, i would like to be good friends with you in the near future.


         Have a great day, sincerely,
                    Jane Doe.




p.s ms eddy I'm not that weird!

journal #14

14. Please describe your reactions/ideas to the following quote: "He does not possess wealth, it possesses him." 


"He does not possess wealth, it possesses him" surely it means someone who has been blinded by money. The money has gone to his head. Once you get a lot of money you are different person most of the time. People let the money impact them like for example you have a very important job that pays a lot. To keep that job you have to be working all day and all night you'll be thinking of your job. Even though it takes over your life you cant let the job go because the pay is great and you get to have all the material things you want. Money takes a hold of you and controls you.

journal #15

15. What is the most valuable contribution you could make to a college campus? Explain. 

journal #16

16. Explain a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dillema you have faced and its impact on you. 

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

journal #17

17. Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you. 



My biggest concern right now is how this world is slowly going down a very harmful path. The whole world is suffering from money loss and even though it could easily be fixed, the greedy people who run about everything will not allow it. Atrocious people are the only ones who seem to be enjoying this world and its not fair. As time goes by people become less and less human without any morals what so ever. The human race is monstrous. We destroy everything that is beautiful and we are even killing our own home, our planet. We start war with our brothers, we steal,kill, lie, cheat and its only getting worse. I'm scared for my future and especially for my family. How will this world be for my children?. That question is always on my mind. It worries me and it should not be this way. This world shouldn't be like this where everything is horrid and unfair but what can i do?. i am nothing against the people who run this world. they have wealth they have everything and they're not going to give that up so everyone else can have a better life as well.

journal #18

18. If you could choose two things to change about our high school campus, what would they be and why? 


if i could have any two things change in my high school i would probably change the new principal and serve better food. I would change our new principal because of her ideas of changing this school. When Mr. Ochoa was here, he would let us out for smi, but now we are stuck in a classroom for almost three hours. Some teachers don't even let us go out to the bathroom until smi and thats also unfair. I heard our new principal was also trying to get us to wear uniform and trying to prevent us from wearing certain type of clothing. Once i heard that i disliked her right away. I'm not in middle school anymore and my mother does not have the money to be buying me new clothes. The food is finally getting better but i would prefer them not to serve pizza. No matter how much thy say it is a vegetable, it is not. Other than that i don't really want to change much from my campus. It is fine the way it is and I'm only here for another year anyway.



journal #19

19. Should school attendance be mandatory? In your answer, be sure to explore what the function of education is, and what our nation would look like if the masses were less educated. 


As student i dont enjoy being forced to come to school and be stuck in a crowded classroom for hours and be taught things ill likely forget by the next day. It seems like im wasting my best years with a bunch of people my age that i dont even want to see. Even though i feel this way i still believe school attendance should be mandatory. All of us need to be forced to come to school for if we werent i doubt we would ever show up.  School educates us, well most of us, and helps us for our future. if we do not go to school we will not know the basic things to even get a job at mcdonalds. We all need some sort of education to make it in this world. Our nation would be affected as well if attending school wasnt mandatory. There would be even more chaos than there already is because of uneducated people who weren't taught to think forward and see the consequences their actions might bring. We need education for our lives and nation to thrive. Its pure logic.

journal #20

20. If you had the ability to talk to one species of animal, which animal would you choose to communicate with? Why? 


If i could talk to a specific type of animal i would choose to talk to the eagle. They spend half of their lives or more soaring in the sky and i would greatly enjoy to know how it feels to fly first hand. My dream job would be to be a pilot so people can see how talking to that certain animal would amuses me. I would spend hours talking with the eagle about how lucky it is to fly even though i doubt birds appreciate their wings. I'm not sure how long i could talk with a eagle for even if they could talk I'm not sure the conversation would go anywhere. I wouldn't be able to have deep conversations with it like how i would like to but lets just say that i could actually have meaningful conversations with the beautiful bird. The first thing i would ask would be if they enjoyed flying but not just because its a helpful way to catch their prey. I would ask it how it felt when he flied and what he thought of while he flied. I would listen to the eagles stories about how it felt the first time he ever glided in the air and the saw the world in a different angle. I would never get tired of listening to a eagle talk or take my ability for advantage.