Writing and how it’s shaped me

Before Writing 110, I though of myself as a proficient writer. All my life I could have struggled with other subjects like math and science, but I always found comfort in the fact that I could write stuff if I had to, and I, for the most part, thought it was pretty good. Throughout my school career, leading up to college, I have improved a lot in my writing, and I think it’s a noticeable difference.

This class specifically, has really helped be develop more thoroughly as a writer. Even though we’ve only written five essays, I believe that the essays that we have written have really helped me as a writer. Never before have I concentrated so much on five essays. Most of the time, I’m just cranking out essay after essay, all of which are mostly mediocre, because I have so many to write, and not enough time to slow down and revise all of them.

I think my favorite essay that I wrote this semester was the essay that dealt with explanation. In my essay, I explained the canyon, which lies between my place of residence and most of my classes and the cafeteria, so it’s a problem for most of the people who live in coffin. I enjoyed writing that essay because I like explaining things, and this essay was no exception. 

I struggled with the research essay, I’m just not a big fan of them due to their rather time consuming nature. I prefer writing things that I know about, and that I have a passion for. Overall, this class has been a good thing for me, it’s improved me as a writer, and as a person.

 

Writing In my Future

I have never really enjoyed using Facebook as a means of communication, except for maybe sharing pictures, and looking at pictures of my friends and such. It seems that Facebook is now a means for people to complain and bicker easier. I don’t think you could go on Facebook today and not see people arguing about something extremely ridiculous.

I will say that I enjoy using Twitter, because you don’t have the opportunity of running your mouth for ever and ever, you’re limited to 140 characters. Which is good. Twitter is not dummy-proof either, as people sometimes tend to be immature on it as well, but you can easily filter them out.

Personally, I enjoy receiving mail, so maybe once I settle down and have more time, I’ll start writing letters to people I know. Letters are a great way to bond with people on a more personal level, more so than texting, or even talking on the phone in my opinion. In a letter, you get to convey emotion via your handwriting, and that’s important. 

In the future, I really don’t see myself as a writer in the real world. I wrote for the newspaper staff in high school, if that counts for anything. In my future though, I don’t see myself producing any meaningful work as a pro, or even semi-pro, writer. For my future job, I don’t think I’ll need to be actively writing, although I’m still not sure what I want to do when I graduate, so I guess I can’t say I wont need to write at all. 

 

 

You do You

Dear Dave Deckard,

You’ve made some interesting points about people making religious gestures at sporting events, particularly Luke Babbit, and Tim Tebow. I agree with the statement that you said in regards to their gestures not offending you. They don’t offend me either, as long as they’re being real about the gestures. What’s the point of them gesturing for the fans approval, or disapproval? Personally I think that if they’re simply claiming to be Christian in order to look “cooler”, that’s ridiculous. 

I also think it’s kinda funny that people make a big deal about these gestures. Leave it to someone out there to get offended my their totally harmless gestures. People make much more offending gestures all the time, and that’s just okay I guess. I don’t see a problem with pointing to the sky after making a sweet alley-oop dunk. In fact, I kinda think it gets the people going.  People will be people I suppose.  

I really liked what you had to say about God being with the “loser”, instead of the person who made the big catch for the touchdown. Instead, God is with the person who got burned, and who probably is humiliated and feels terrible. I had never thought of it like that before. I always thought of the opposing team as the “enemy”, and that everything needed to be done in order to defeat them; no mercy.

In my opinion, if you’re going to represent God, and thank him for allowing you to make that big three-pointer, or for the ability to truck the defender and score a touchdown, make sure it’s genuine, and not some fake show you’re putting on in order to impress people or something. 

Certainly Confused

I read Gary Tandy’s essay titled The Problem With Certitude, and I really didn’t agree with what he had to say. Homosexuality is generally a term that evokes cold sweats, and is something that most people don’t want to deal with. I don’t hold any grudges against gay and lesbian people, but that doesn’t mean I agree with what they’re doing. Tandy made the point that we shouldn’t be so closed-minded with the issue of homosexuality, but rather, we should be understanding, and recognize different people other than ourselves. The question is, how do you go about being understanding about something that you know is wrong? Do you sympathize with the person who chose to drink and drive and kill an innocent person? That may be a bit of a different example than the one at hand but you get the idea.

I was taught at a young age to always be kind to people, whether they were kind back or not. My dad constantly used the phrase; “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all,” a statement in which I completely agree with. To take what Tandy said and apply it to real life would be rather difficult in my opinion. Just like he said; “Every Christian should have a clear place where they stand on social issues,” and that people can’t be lukewarm in anything. I find that true, but most likely really difficult to carry out in real-world situations. This isn’t a easy topic to discuss, as you’re bound to offend someone while doing it. The answer to the question of how to address the social issue of homosexuality remains to be answered. 

 

Barack Obama and his stealing of words

You would think that our President would be the last person to steal ideas from another person. Being the President should mean that you live your life to a “higher” standard than everyone else, at least from a moral perspective. 

The situation in question occurred on February 16th, 2008. Barack allegedly “quoted” words and phrases from well-known documents from U.S. history including ideas from Martin Luther King, John F. Kennedy, and even the Declaration of Independence. Of course, Barack Obama also made his speech look surprisingly similar to Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick, by using similar words and phrases. If both Barack’s and Deval’s speeches are compared side-by-side, it is clearly seen that the two speeches are really close to each other. Barack continued, saying that he and Deval were really close and that basically he wouldn’t mind if he used a few ideas of his. Later, Obama said that he probably should have given Deval credit for his words, but he just didn’t get around to it this time, and that he was to do it next time for sure. I think that’s messed up.

Personally, I think this is wrong. A speech should be one’s own thoughts and ideas, not something that someone else has already said. Sure, a speech could be supported with outside information, but that information should be information that is obtained in a moral manner. It shouldn’t be taken and then willfully used as one’s own work, even when the person knows that the work is not theirs. If you write, and use others ideas, cite it correctly, or people will be coming for you. 

Citation:

Bailey, Jonathan. “The Obama Plagiarism Scandal.” Plagarism Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Nov. 2013. <http://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2008/02/20/the-obama-plagiarism-scandal/&gt;.

We’re screwing up

In The Demise of Guys, an article by Philip Zimbardo and Nikita Duncan, dudes are given the bad rap. It seems that men these days spend most of their waking hours on either pornography, or video games. I agree with the fact that porn and video games can be harmful, and that the role of technology in our day-to-day lives are affecting the way we live. However, I don’t believe that men in this day and age are missing out, I mean you can’t really get a similar thrill anywhere else playing a riveting video game. On the flip-side, there are other activities that are also fun to do. It’s more fun to play basketball in real life versus playing NBA 2k13. 

The critiques given by both The Anatomy of a Video Game-Scare Story and The Man Crises, Continued, give you a different sense of what’s going on with the men in our society. Yes, evidence is provided stating that the Norwegian killer who assassinated 77 people, used video games like Call of Duty in order to practice, but how many young men actually play video games in order to “practice”? As disturbing as that is, video games are really not that bad in moderation, as with most things, but when used excessively, porn and video games can become a real problem and effectively interfere with daily life.

Making good out of the bad

Reading this tragic story about Sam made me realize how much I take for granted everyday. I don’t have to worry about a mass on my face that’s extremely painful, physically, and psychologically, especially for a middle school student. I remember worrying about what clothes I wore, and who I hung out with in middle school, among other trivial, and ridiculous things. Sam had to live with a terrible abnormality, yet he still persevered and attempted to make the best out of the situation that he was in. The trials and tribulations that Sam endures are extreme, but he kicks sand in the face of his deformity; he recognizes what he has and what he has to live with.

Before Sam’s first year of high school is when he had his groundbreaking surgery that would change his life forever. The extremely complicated surgery that he underwent didn’t completely fix his face, but that didn’t matter. Improvement was appreciated, and the confidence boost that came as a result of the surgery was fantastic.

I was most encouraged while reading this group of four articles when I read the last part of the fourth article. Sam is waiting in line at freshmen orientation, when he is picked out and told that he “didn’t have to wait out here in front of everyone”, and “you don’t need this.”

Sam firmly says no, and obviously surprises the school administrator. The amount of courage that Sam exhibits in this particular moment in time is exemplary. No matter the condition of his face, he was not going to be treated any differently than any other student at Grant High School that day. He wasn’t gonna feel sorry for himself and request special attention. Sam wants to be treated like a regular kid, and I understand that. While Sam waited in line he was affectionately greeted by his old friends, and I found comfort in that. I’m sure that he did too.

Screw-Ups

The first résumé here has some vulgar language, and almost sounds threatening. I don’t think an employer is looking for an employee who is willing to intimidate them, let alone use bad language.

http://www.worldwideinterweb.com/item/964-the-25-funniest-job-resumes-of-all-time.html

 

I thought this résumé was pretty funny, mostly because it wasn’t a resume at all, it was just an attached photograph of Nicholas Cage. I laughed for a good thirty seconds That person had some explaining to do.

http://www.buzzfeed.com/awesomer/the-best-resumes-any-company-has-ever-received

 

This particular resume was entertaining because the person was complaining about having to clean the toilets in the bathroom, and that they were going to quit if they had to do that particular task again. Apparently the person had to do it again. 

http://www.resumedoctor.com/worstresumes.asp

 

This cover letter was pretty funny because it looked like a four-year-old wrote it. The ironic part was the fact that he is applying for a graphic design position, you would think that he, or she, would be a little more artistic.

http://www.complex.com/tech/2013/03/10-funny-cover-letters-we-found-on-the-internet/word-art-cover-letter

 

This dude wrote a brutally honest cover letter and it benefitted him, because supposedly he landed the interview of his dreams. It’s funny because he is super honest, and discusses pretty much everything that’s possible. 

http://thestir.cafemom.com/in_the_news/149716/hilariously_honest_cover_letter_gets

 

 

The Internet Is Dissolving Our Brains

In more ways than one, the internet has benefitted us as a human race. We are one click away from communicating with someone across the world in an instant. We are able to access vast amounts of information within seconds. Undoubtably, this has benefitted us greatly. However, on the flip side, I do agree with the statement that the internet, Google in particular, has caused us to rely too heavily on the internet as a resource.

Long gone are the days when people actually had to look up information in a book, or a scholarly journal. Why even bother? You can boot up your computer, type your search query, and have boatloads of information in an instant! The skills we once had on how to look up books in a library is now almost completely gone. I bet if you asked a middle school student what the Dewey Decimal System was, they wouldn’t have a clue. And that’s not a bad thing, it’s just not a technology that’s commonly used anymore.

To argue the point whether or not Google, or in a broader sense, the internet, is making us stupid or not, I’d have to disagree. In fact, I believe quite the opposite. The wealth of information that the internet possesses, and the ease at which it is accessible to us, I believe that the internet can be am extremely valuable resource, however, it should also be used in conjunction with other, more physical resources such as books, and magazines.

Hitched

The thought of getting hitched by the end of your college career shouldn’t be much of a surprise. However George Fox does have a reputation for extremely friendly students, and as a result of this the possibility of getting married before your college career is over isn’t something that should be disregarded. In fact, most people meet and marry at college. I actually know two adults who met here, and were married! And they couldn’t be happier. 

On the flip-side, George Fox isn’t the only school at which you may meet your future spouse. I’m sure there’s other schools out there who have a similar reputation. And let’s be real, most people can’t even afford to be wed right now, considering that we’re paying big bucks just to attend this university. If you’re gonna get married, waiting until more financial stability is available would probably be a good idea. Despite this, people do decided to get married while enrolled in college, which in my mind, would be extremely tough. Women are extremely time-consuming, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, just a fact. And a full time student with a job most likely won’t have enough time for his wife, and vice versa. 

I don’t want to be the first person to say this, but I think it’s a little scary to think that we’re possibly conversing with out future spouse on a day to day basis. It’s just a little weird to think about. Maybe in an effort to improve our chances of finding a potential mate, we should all have good hygiene and remember to brush our teeth well.