Spring Break, Papers, and Packages

      It's sad that Spring Break is over, and of course I waited till the last minute to do all of my homework. I did not travel anywhere over Spring Break. It honestly didn’t even feel like a break because I was doing so much! One thing I did do over break was my best friend Blake and I started to make care packages for the Navy Aircraft Carrier, USS George H.W. Bush. There will be boxes around campus soon, so that people can donate food and other items like Chap Stick and magazines. I’m really excited to send them, I know that they will appreciate it and I am so thankful for them for fighting for our country.
       I finally finished my rough draft on my symbolism paper. It was not hard, it was just hard finding the time to actually sit down and do it. I used many symbols like the fire escape, blue roses, the movies, and the glass unicorn. I was searching for information on the internet and found so much more explanations on the symbols that I never would have thought about. Peer reviews are Tuesday and Thursday which are helpful but also somewhat boring. I am so ready for summer.

Job Success

     For my second outside of class activity, I went the Capital One Seminar. It was quite interesting and had very good advice. I went to the one entitled “Job Success” the two people who taught it made a lot of sense. They said it was all common sense and it really was, but not many people think about it when they are in the situation.
     Many things can help you with success in a job. One key point they talked about was shaping a conversation. Say a boss came up to you and was telling you that you did something wrong, you can turn the situation around and say something like “Thank you so much for the advice I really appreciate it and I want to become better at my job.” So now the boss looks at you differently, the boss feels like a mentor to you and wants you to do better because your success now reflects on your boss and your boss knows that you can take criticism. They also said that you can ask your boss to do projects but you have to stay focused because many other problems will come arise and just stick to your main project and finish it and then you can go back a focus on the other ones. Self-image is very important on the job because you want to be known as the person that is great to work with and smiles all the time not that person who looks mad all the time and is not a pleasure to work with.
     Overall the seminar was very helpful and really gave great advice. I will use it after college when I get into my career. The people who taught the seminar said it wasn’t rocket science and it’s not you just have to remember how to handle a situation when you are in it.

 

El Orfanato

     For my first outside of class activity, I went to a Spanish movie for my Spanish class. It was called The Orphanage. It was hard to follow but in the end the teacher explained all of it. Basically a woman bought an Orphanage that she use to go to and she was trying to bring it back and open it up again. During the process of trying to reopen the orphanage, her son then goes missing, and the ghost children that use to live at the orphanage had her kid and she had to search for him. The end was very hard to understand and is up to interpretation. The movie was in Spanish with English subtitles, it is a very good movie but like I said before it was a little hard to follow. I would suggest it to people who like scary movies.

Essay 2

         Today in class, we had to write about our writing process and our anticipations for the essay number one.  To start my first essay, I started off brainstorming by writing down many ideas I had to connect myself to the story “Hills like White Elephants”. I wrote the paper in one sitting because I got into the mood for writing and my fingers started typing. Peer review helped me see many different takes on the same writing topic. My groups helped me correct any mistakes and had some very good ideas. I was really happy with my writing process for this essay. For my next essay, I’m nervous because the first one was so easy for me to write and I really enjoyed it. This essay seems a bit more analytical than essay one and not as broad as the last one. The first easy was so easy to write about because it was your own personal experience and there was no right or wrong answers, as long as you had textual evidence. I am going to have to do this paper a little bit differently because I have to actually have to have a source other than the book.

Peer Review

Last week in class, we corrected our papers in groups. My group was really helpful and had great input. Both of their papers were great and really had meaning behind it. Hearing other classmates’ papers made me look at my paper differently and add more content to it. The peer review required us to read our papers twice and then we had to pass it around for the grammar check. Although at first I did not think the peer review would help, it really did. I wrote about “The Hills like White Elephants” and how I can compare to her because I had to make many decisions in my life. Although I have not had to make a big decision, like Jig in the story, I have made numerous decisions that have affected me in many ways.

Revenge

The other week in class we read “The Cast of Amontillado” by Edgar Allen Poe. Basically it was about revenge which leads someone to murder another person. The story’s tone is very dark, and so is the ending.

Many people seek revenge after getting hurt or betrayed. Once someone has completed his or her quest for revenge, they are often left feeling worst off than before. Sinking down to the level of the person who hurt them is the worst thing anybody can do. Although it may be hard, rising above someone who hurt will ultimately make you feel better than seeking revenge.

Commit the Act, Pay the Price

            One of the short stories we read this week was Hills like White Elephants. When first reading through it I didn’t quite understand the whole meaning. After doing my research I discovered that there was so much symbolism within it. The girl is struggling with her decision on having abortion and the guy is saying that he does not see another way. The girl is thinking about how she could overcome these obstacles and make a life with her unborn child.

In real life, I believe that many girls struggling with the decision on whether or not to have an abortion. Most guys are all for abortion but the girls are the ones who have to go through the emotions and it is truly real. For guys they don’t have to go to the abortion clinic and actually have the procedure done to them and it is not as traumatic. I believe guys should be more supportive on how the girl is feeling and focus on her and not just think about his personal gain. If a guy is responsible enough to commit the act, then he should be responsible enough to take care of a baby.