After reading the excerpt and the prompt, I realized that I have very few brand loyalties… but I do have specific preferences like Ford trucks or Dell computers with windows operating systems… and if I think about WHY I like these brands, I think about how they are durable and reliable. My family has owned a 1988 Ford Bronco for as long as I can remember, and up until recently, when its battery died, it has been a reliable vehicle to transport our family around the island. Yes, we do have a newer vehicle for going anywhere off the island, but our Ford truck has had a good long run. Or for example, my preference for Dell computers with a Windows operating system… when I compare PCs to Macs (which are the two common computers compared) I think of the most common arguments I have been given. My friend adamantly supports Macs, because, according to her, Macs never get viruses or break, but her argument against a PC is that they are always virus ridden. But when it comes down to it, the Mac computer seriously limits your software selection, usually just to what Apple offers for you to buy, and truthfully, PC don’t actually get as many viruses as she claims.
Children in America are seriously influenced by what they see on television and on the internet. If you were to take a large urban area, like San Fransisco for example, where most of what you see when walking down the street are fancy stores and shops, and few parks for Children to play in.. so they stay home a lot, or go shopping. And when they stay home, they become bored, and sit down at the computer and/or flip the TV on. And they sit there for hours. There are many ads on TV that tell you your life isn’t complete with out this or that, and after seeing the ad many, many times, the children start to believe it. The author makes a very interesting point regarding parents who can’t or don’t want to, spend much time with their kids. She points out that most children who are often not supervised by their parents are given “guilt money” as a way to make up for their absence. Or in some cases to make their children go away, as they have no inclination to deal with them (which is sadly becoming more and more common). Take my sister for example. She is 8 years old and watches Cartoon Network, when she’s not outside playing. After about an hour of watching TV, and seeing an ad for some new toy about 5 times, she’ll start telling mom that she wants that toy, and she will persist until mom gets fed up and tells her no.
I believe that brand loyalty isn’t so much what people tell you to like, more your environment. For example, Wood Middle School, Wood students have shown a definite preference for Abercrombie and Fitch, and this preference has grown over the last 3 years. From sweatshirts to hoodies, to hats and shirts, The abercromie logo shows up everywhere. Which brings me to the topic of logo recognition, young children have shown an aptitude for recognizing the most common logos that appear in their house. Be it the petco logo (if they have many pets) or the pokemon logo, they recognize these pictures and learn to associate them with specific products. Again, I’ll use my sister as an example. Of the students in her second grade class, most, if not all, are fans of a show/game called bakugan. Early in the year, it was only about half the class, but as the year progressed, I noticed more and more names being brought up when my sister talked about Bakugan.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
College Readiness
What does it mean to be college ready? I believe that it’s basically being able to function in higher-level classes, meaning that you know the basic skills for each subject you take, and aren’t afraid to put them to use. Plus you’re mature enough to get along with people you wouldn’t usually interact with, and able to schedule and prioritize.
This excerpt “A Definition of College Readiness” is very interesting. The point of the writing is obvious, after you read it twice through. It uses very complex language to say very simple things. For example:
“2. Deep understanding of and facility applying key foundational ideas and concepts from the core academic subjects” (Redefining College Readiness, pg. 18)
Could be simplified as:
“Is able to understand and apply basic ideas for the core academic subjects”
I admit that I had to read the entire excerpt as a whole about three times through to be able to fully comprehend it. Because I was having trouble with it, I took it to my father, who took one look at it and told me that I needed to look at it in sections and break it down into its basic elements, and then I could try reading it all together. And well, I realized that that little episode was a good example of one of the skills the excerpt defines as a good one to have; the ability to work in a study group (in this case my dad and I) or rather, the ability to ask for help.
When I was about 2 1/2, my dad decided to go back to college to get another degree, so we packed up and moved from Billings, Montana to Santa Cruz, California. I remember my dad taking me with him to his classes (I was about 5). We would sit in the back. I had a little backpack filled with drawing stuff and various toys, I would sit at a desk next to him or behind him and keep myself entertained. Some days I would pretend to be just like him, pretending to take notes, and asking my dinosaur figurine the definition of various words (I never did get answers). And some days, I remember dad keeping me there after class with him while he would ask the teacher about various things he didn’t quite understand the first time. My dad was always a good student, and he always asked for help if he needed it, no matter how embarrassed he was. He’s the one who taught me that asking for help is essential to learning.
So I’m good at asking for help (and I often need it) but there are a lot more things I’m really bad about. Organization is one thing I need to work on. I’m better about it then I was in 5th grade, but I still tend to loose a lot of important things, my pens, pencils, essays, etc. In fact, I’ve spent some time this summer trying to teach myself to keep things a bit more organized. Recently, I found that index cards are my best friends, along with my iPod and lots of folders.
I’m also really bad about getting started on assignments… that’s one major problem I will need to fix fast within the next few years. This specific problem is actually how I became aware that index cards are great. I’ve found that these essays are easier to write if I simplify the prompts down to their most basic meanings. For example, here’s how the index card for this essay looks:
In own words --> college ready
Any college ready skills rep. you?
Skills to work on?
It’s much simpler and much easier to understand with a cursory glance.
This excerpt “A Definition of College Readiness” is very interesting. The point of the writing is obvious, after you read it twice through. It uses very complex language to say very simple things. For example:
“2. Deep understanding of and facility applying key foundational ideas and concepts from the core academic subjects” (Redefining College Readiness, pg. 18)
Could be simplified as:
“Is able to understand and apply basic ideas for the core academic subjects”
I admit that I had to read the entire excerpt as a whole about three times through to be able to fully comprehend it. Because I was having trouble with it, I took it to my father, who took one look at it and told me that I needed to look at it in sections and break it down into its basic elements, and then I could try reading it all together. And well, I realized that that little episode was a good example of one of the skills the excerpt defines as a good one to have; the ability to work in a study group (in this case my dad and I) or rather, the ability to ask for help.
When I was about 2 1/2, my dad decided to go back to college to get another degree, so we packed up and moved from Billings, Montana to Santa Cruz, California. I remember my dad taking me with him to his classes (I was about 5). We would sit in the back. I had a little backpack filled with drawing stuff and various toys, I would sit at a desk next to him or behind him and keep myself entertained. Some days I would pretend to be just like him, pretending to take notes, and asking my dinosaur figurine the definition of various words (I never did get answers). And some days, I remember dad keeping me there after class with him while he would ask the teacher about various things he didn’t quite understand the first time. My dad was always a good student, and he always asked for help if he needed it, no matter how embarrassed he was. He’s the one who taught me that asking for help is essential to learning.
So I’m good at asking for help (and I often need it) but there are a lot more things I’m really bad about. Organization is one thing I need to work on. I’m better about it then I was in 5th grade, but I still tend to loose a lot of important things, my pens, pencils, essays, etc. In fact, I’ve spent some time this summer trying to teach myself to keep things a bit more organized. Recently, I found that index cards are my best friends, along with my iPod and lots of folders.
I’m also really bad about getting started on assignments… that’s one major problem I will need to fix fast within the next few years. This specific problem is actually how I became aware that index cards are great. I’ve found that these essays are easier to write if I simplify the prompts down to their most basic meanings. For example, here’s how the index card for this essay looks:
In own words --> college ready
Any college ready skills rep. you?
Skills to work on?
It’s much simpler and much easier to understand with a cursory glance.
Doing School
In this excerpt, Pope describes an intensely competitive atmosphere in Eve’s classes, and I believe that such competition is a mixed blessing. On one hand, it causes students to push forward and strive to reach as far as they possibly can. On the other hand, it creates a high stress situation, causing tension between friends. Of course how someone reacts to this stress is completely defined by their personality. Some students may completely break down when the competition gets tough, then again, some students just get angry, and wonder why the competition isn’t tougher. Then there are those in the middle, who try not to draw attention to them selves, get average grades, and have a ton of friends, so the stress doesn’t affect them much. The latter is what I saw as most common in my geometry class, there were two and three of the break-down types, and about a quarter of the class was the high achievers. I find that this specific excerpt describes a lot of the advanced classes I was in last year. It’s fascinating,
Pope also discusses the issue of cheating, and the student’s definition of “cheating”. The way these particular students define cheating is interesting… cutting class to study and pre-programming calculators is cheating, but copying homework and asking neighbors for answers isn’t. I think students cheat because they feel that they need good grades more than they feel that they need to actually learn the material. For a lot of students, the material is nothing to them. They just want good grades and no homework. Cheating has some consequences, sure. But I’m not sure how many kids who cheat just blow them off… and I wonder if the consequences aren’t scary enough anymore since many kids don’t seem to care. I personally don’t think cheating is worth it, I’ve always figured that if I’m not good enough I deserve to fail. Which brings me to an interesting side topic… a lot of parents are more lax on their kids because they feel angry at their parents for being strict on them as children, so they’re a lot more lenient when it comes to discipline.
Well, back to our topic… Students who are caught cheating should be given a zero on the assignment, and be made to write an essay on WHY they were cheating… I hope that this method would help get the cheaters thinking about weather cheating was actually necessary.
Cheating itself is an interesting topic. The idea that if one can’t do the work themselves, someone else who at least tried to complete the assignment is therefore “smarter” and that they should copy off of them. No human being is perfect, that’s not possible. But the concept of cheating is based off that idea. I personally think that it’s ridiculous, but I have seem many a friend copy homework, and even more friends ask to copy mine (to which I reply that I don’t have it, that they should do it themselves, or that I didn’t do it). The teachers are always happy to help them understand the concepts (for that matter, so am I. Even if I don’t get it, there are always books we can look it up in) so cheating is so… silly. There are so many ways to get good grades without resorting to using another person’s paper.
Overall, competitive environments affect people in so many different ways, so it’s hard to determine if they will eventually resort to things like cheating or skipping class. But does it really matter? Not everyone cheats.
Pope also discusses the issue of cheating, and the student’s definition of “cheating”. The way these particular students define cheating is interesting… cutting class to study and pre-programming calculators is cheating, but copying homework and asking neighbors for answers isn’t. I think students cheat because they feel that they need good grades more than they feel that they need to actually learn the material. For a lot of students, the material is nothing to them. They just want good grades and no homework. Cheating has some consequences, sure. But I’m not sure how many kids who cheat just blow them off… and I wonder if the consequences aren’t scary enough anymore since many kids don’t seem to care. I personally don’t think cheating is worth it, I’ve always figured that if I’m not good enough I deserve to fail. Which brings me to an interesting side topic… a lot of parents are more lax on their kids because they feel angry at their parents for being strict on them as children, so they’re a lot more lenient when it comes to discipline.
Well, back to our topic… Students who are caught cheating should be given a zero on the assignment, and be made to write an essay on WHY they were cheating… I hope that this method would help get the cheaters thinking about weather cheating was actually necessary.
Cheating itself is an interesting topic. The idea that if one can’t do the work themselves, someone else who at least tried to complete the assignment is therefore “smarter” and that they should copy off of them. No human being is perfect, that’s not possible. But the concept of cheating is based off that idea. I personally think that it’s ridiculous, but I have seem many a friend copy homework, and even more friends ask to copy mine (to which I reply that I don’t have it, that they should do it themselves, or that I didn’t do it). The teachers are always happy to help them understand the concepts (for that matter, so am I. Even if I don’t get it, there are always books we can look it up in) so cheating is so… silly. There are so many ways to get good grades without resorting to using another person’s paper.
Overall, competitive environments affect people in so many different ways, so it’s hard to determine if they will eventually resort to things like cheating or skipping class. But does it really matter? Not everyone cheats.
Food Defined
In this excerpt, Pollan makes an interesting point that food is a fairly flexible term these days. And I realized that by his definition, I don’t eat real food. Sure, I love my vegetables, but how many of these dishes that contain my favorite veggies, are food products, instead of food? For example, we have some “Sweet and Sour Chicken over Rice Healthy Choice Fresh Mixers” in the kitchen. You’d think the ingredients would be something like: water, carrots, peppers, organic white meat chicken, and rice. But there are over 30 ingredients, including modified corn starch and high fructose corn syrup. Therefore, this item crosses into the food products category. I don’t necessarily agree with Pollan however, and I wonder if some of what he says may not be fully true, given how things have changed in just the last year.
Upon discussing the excerpt with my father, we both realized that Pollan was largely referring to how the food is packaged. The food itself hasn’t really changed since the time when my father was a child, just how they market it, how they package it has changed.
Another interesting point is that back when my parents were kids, there a lot more stay at home moms, whereas nowadays, it quite common for both parents to work, cutting down on the amount of meals actually cooked my the mom or dad. So they resort to buying pre-packaged items, therefore relinquishing their power over the ingredients. Also, back in the 70’s families only went out to eat about once a month, give or take, and in this modern age, easy fast food restaurants combined with overworked parents equates to families eating out 3 times or more a week. Which despite the claims of many people doesn’t really create a bit impact on your health; it’s the amount you eat, that affects your body weight and energy levels. Americans today are, unfortunately, gluttons. They often overindulge in food, as a coping mechanism for the inherent stress of everyday life. My mom always says “everything in moderation”. And in this case, I take that to mean too much of a single food, can seriously affect you, but if you were to eat in variety, and in smaller portions, you’d be a much healthier human being. People today eat larger portions of food than they did, let’s say 30 year ago. And 30 years ago, people got a lot more exercise, using up all the energy from their last meal.
These days, people look for “value” as in the quantity of food they can get for a smaller amount of money. Snack product companies have found that less nutritional foods are cheaper for them to make, so they can sell these products at a cheaper price than their competitors, making people think that they are getting more value for their money.
To make better choices at home, you need to start somewhere, like actually being aware that you have a problem with the food you consume. Then you can start taking back your control over the ingredients in your food. Keep it simple, start with snack foods for example, replace them with a healthier alternative, then wait for that to just become the standard, then move on to a different type of food to replace, and you just keep doing this until you’re eating the way you want to eat. But keep in mind; you don’t have to phase the old food completely.
As mom always says, “All Things in Moderation”
Upon discussing the excerpt with my father, we both realized that Pollan was largely referring to how the food is packaged. The food itself hasn’t really changed since the time when my father was a child, just how they market it, how they package it has changed.
Another interesting point is that back when my parents were kids, there a lot more stay at home moms, whereas nowadays, it quite common for both parents to work, cutting down on the amount of meals actually cooked my the mom or dad. So they resort to buying pre-packaged items, therefore relinquishing their power over the ingredients. Also, back in the 70’s families only went out to eat about once a month, give or take, and in this modern age, easy fast food restaurants combined with overworked parents equates to families eating out 3 times or more a week. Which despite the claims of many people doesn’t really create a bit impact on your health; it’s the amount you eat, that affects your body weight and energy levels. Americans today are, unfortunately, gluttons. They often overindulge in food, as a coping mechanism for the inherent stress of everyday life. My mom always says “everything in moderation”. And in this case, I take that to mean too much of a single food, can seriously affect you, but if you were to eat in variety, and in smaller portions, you’d be a much healthier human being. People today eat larger portions of food than they did, let’s say 30 year ago. And 30 years ago, people got a lot more exercise, using up all the energy from their last meal.
These days, people look for “value” as in the quantity of food they can get for a smaller amount of money. Snack product companies have found that less nutritional foods are cheaper for them to make, so they can sell these products at a cheaper price than their competitors, making people think that they are getting more value for their money.
To make better choices at home, you need to start somewhere, like actually being aware that you have a problem with the food you consume. Then you can start taking back your control over the ingredients in your food. Keep it simple, start with snack foods for example, replace them with a healthier alternative, then wait for that to just become the standard, then move on to a different type of food to replace, and you just keep doing this until you’re eating the way you want to eat. But keep in mind; you don’t have to phase the old food completely.
As mom always says, “All Things in Moderation”
Life Is So Good
I found this excerpt to be very inspiring. George Dawson went back to school to learn to read at the age of ninety-eight, which is amazing, seeing as he walks to school every morning, which most people that age can’t, and then he learns to read very quickly. It goes to show that if you’re determined, you can do anything. I think learning to read was so important to him because he didn’t earlier in his life. I also think part of it was his son’s support. His son, Junior, visits him everyday after school, helps him with his homework, and asks him if he works hard everyday, just like Dawson did for him when Junior was young. Plus, if he hadn’t gone to that adult school, many other people like him who never learned to read would never have joined the class.
The other students in his class seem to be very attached to him. They like to listen to his stories about things that happened long before they were born, and they do things like show up early just so they can sit next to him in class, and they also sometimes drive him home after a tiring day at the school.
Dawson is living proof that you should continue to learn throughout your life. There are many, many reasons to continue learning throughout your life. In fact, you have to learn something new everyday, just to survive. You might not even realize you are learning something new, but it’s true. Your brain has to process information every second of your life. However, if you are consciously trying to learn something new, like a new language for example, you have to work hard to teach your brain to automatically associate certain foreign words with their equivalent in your native language. Anyways, learning throughout your life is important because it keeps your mind in working condition, it’s kind of like oiling a machine to keep it running smoothly, if you continue learning, your mind continues to work the way you need it to.
Learning all the time is probably what kept the human race around this long. It’s necessary for survival. Humans had to learn through trial and error what would kill them, what would make them sick, and what was safe. Some things took us longer then others, but we eventually figured it out, and look at us now, still constantly learning and improving (or worsening) our lives. If the humans hadn’t learned that we were causing so much damage, how would we learn to fix it?
I’ve been watching the original Land of The Lost episodes with my sister, and Marshal, Will, and Holly are constantly learning how to interact with their environment. Now imagine being in their situation, trapped in a place you know absolutely nothing about. What’s the first thing you do? You explore, to learn about your environment. You search for viable sources of food, water, and shelter. You try and figure out what threats there are towards you, and what animals aren’t threats. You try to create something like a “home” so that you can sustain yourself for as long as you need to. You never know when someone will come to help, or if they’ll ever come.
I suppose learning isn’t as simple a subject as it seems at first glance, and it’s quite hard to explain how it fits into our lives on a daily basis, but this old man did, and he’s made himself into a perfect example as to why people should keep learning.
The other students in his class seem to be very attached to him. They like to listen to his stories about things that happened long before they were born, and they do things like show up early just so they can sit next to him in class, and they also sometimes drive him home after a tiring day at the school.
Dawson is living proof that you should continue to learn throughout your life. There are many, many reasons to continue learning throughout your life. In fact, you have to learn something new everyday, just to survive. You might not even realize you are learning something new, but it’s true. Your brain has to process information every second of your life. However, if you are consciously trying to learn something new, like a new language for example, you have to work hard to teach your brain to automatically associate certain foreign words with their equivalent in your native language. Anyways, learning throughout your life is important because it keeps your mind in working condition, it’s kind of like oiling a machine to keep it running smoothly, if you continue learning, your mind continues to work the way you need it to.
Learning all the time is probably what kept the human race around this long. It’s necessary for survival. Humans had to learn through trial and error what would kill them, what would make them sick, and what was safe. Some things took us longer then others, but we eventually figured it out, and look at us now, still constantly learning and improving (or worsening) our lives. If the humans hadn’t learned that we were causing so much damage, how would we learn to fix it?
I’ve been watching the original Land of The Lost episodes with my sister, and Marshal, Will, and Holly are constantly learning how to interact with their environment. Now imagine being in their situation, trapped in a place you know absolutely nothing about. What’s the first thing you do? You explore, to learn about your environment. You search for viable sources of food, water, and shelter. You try and figure out what threats there are towards you, and what animals aren’t threats. You try to create something like a “home” so that you can sustain yourself for as long as you need to. You never know when someone will come to help, or if they’ll ever come.
I suppose learning isn’t as simple a subject as it seems at first glance, and it’s quite hard to explain how it fits into our lives on a daily basis, but this old man did, and he’s made himself into a perfect example as to why people should keep learning.
Who says an old dog can’t learn new tricks?
Becoming a Positive Deviant
In this excerpt, the author talks about being one cog in a very large machine. While he was talking about the medical system, I’m thinking on a larger scale; the world. If you think about it, you realize that you are just one person in about 13 billion other people. That’s a lot of other people. So how do you stand out? How to you make a positive impact? In this excerpt, the author tries to answer those questions. He suggests five ways to become a “Positive Deviant”.
But first, what does it mean to be a positive deviant? I believe it describes someone who doesn’t follow the usual pattern; they deviate from it, but not to cause a mess, as many people do, but to make a positive impact on their lives as well as others.
He suggests five ways to become a positive deviant:
1. Ask an unscripted question. He mentions asking a question that is outside the normal range of questions, like asking someone if they watched the game of football last night, or if they have any pets. I think this can be applied to everyday life… instead of just standing silently while a grocer you see a lot bags your groceries, say hi, how are you? And smile… a single smile can make someone’s day a lot better, especially in a job like a cashier at Safeway. Or, a more common occurrence, someone who’s locker is next to yours, instead of saying hi and then ignoring them, ask them what class they’re going to next, or how their weekend was. You’ll find you have a lot more friends.
2. Don’t Complain. Well, now this one’s harder. Sometimes you may not realize you’re complaining, or that another person takes a simple comment like “Huh, I didn’t know I had a cut on my arm” as you complaining. Take the time to not purposely complain though, and even if you do, keep it to a minimum. As the author states, it gets annoying, and can really make you depressed.
3. Count Something. I perceive this one to mean that you should find something that interests you to do with your spare time, preferably something that will hopefully help someone. You could count the number of days your bird ignores his treats, or if he ignores specific types of treats, and use that information to give your bird the treats he likes. You could probably find something less silly though.
4. Write Something. After reading his suggestions for this one, I realized that blogs (which I previously though stupid) might actually be more than they seem. The author mentions writing, just so you think about your life, what you’re writing about, etc. And it made a lot of sense. I think that I will (maybe) write a blog or journal, even if it’s just to organize my thoughts (which are usually quite scrambled)
5. Change. I like this one. It’s a great suggestion! Humans are inherently afraid of change; we see it as a threat to our survival. But change is necessary for evolution and development of the human brain, so perhaps we should be more open to new ideas. No, I don’t believe that every new change proposed is a brilliant idea and should immediately be enacted, but we as a species should be more open to changes in technology, changes in lifestyle. Even trying new foods could be counted as change.
These five ideas, suggestions, whatever you want to call them, can be applied in everyday life, and not just in the life of a doctor, especially not just in the life of a high school/college student. If you can follow just one of these suggestions, you can become a better person. Someone who people admire, look up to, and like.
But first, what does it mean to be a positive deviant? I believe it describes someone who doesn’t follow the usual pattern; they deviate from it, but not to cause a mess, as many people do, but to make a positive impact on their lives as well as others.
He suggests five ways to become a positive deviant:
1. Ask an unscripted question. He mentions asking a question that is outside the normal range of questions, like asking someone if they watched the game of football last night, or if they have any pets. I think this can be applied to everyday life… instead of just standing silently while a grocer you see a lot bags your groceries, say hi, how are you? And smile… a single smile can make someone’s day a lot better, especially in a job like a cashier at Safeway. Or, a more common occurrence, someone who’s locker is next to yours, instead of saying hi and then ignoring them, ask them what class they’re going to next, or how their weekend was. You’ll find you have a lot more friends.
2. Don’t Complain. Well, now this one’s harder. Sometimes you may not realize you’re complaining, or that another person takes a simple comment like “Huh, I didn’t know I had a cut on my arm” as you complaining. Take the time to not purposely complain though, and even if you do, keep it to a minimum. As the author states, it gets annoying, and can really make you depressed.
3. Count Something. I perceive this one to mean that you should find something that interests you to do with your spare time, preferably something that will hopefully help someone. You could count the number of days your bird ignores his treats, or if he ignores specific types of treats, and use that information to give your bird the treats he likes. You could probably find something less silly though.
4. Write Something. After reading his suggestions for this one, I realized that blogs (which I previously though stupid) might actually be more than they seem. The author mentions writing, just so you think about your life, what you’re writing about, etc. And it made a lot of sense. I think that I will (maybe) write a blog or journal, even if it’s just to organize my thoughts (which are usually quite scrambled)
5. Change. I like this one. It’s a great suggestion! Humans are inherently afraid of change; we see it as a threat to our survival. But change is necessary for evolution and development of the human brain, so perhaps we should be more open to new ideas. No, I don’t believe that every new change proposed is a brilliant idea and should immediately be enacted, but we as a species should be more open to changes in technology, changes in lifestyle. Even trying new foods could be counted as change.
These five ideas, suggestions, whatever you want to call them, can be applied in everyday life, and not just in the life of a doctor, especially not just in the life of a high school/college student. If you can follow just one of these suggestions, you can become a better person. Someone who people admire, look up to, and like.
President's Speech
In his speech, the President talks about responsibility, and the things students have to do. And in the prompt given to me, I am asked to explain what I feel my responsibilities are as a student. And I honestly find that a difficult question to answer. The best I can come up with is that I feel a responsibility to just be a student and meet the expectations people put upon me, no matter what I want to do. Tough I don’t feel this is a good enough answer. It’s quite hard to put how I feel about the whole “student situation” into words. Teachers are there to teach, they aren’t like your parents. Some parents will lie to you and tell you that something you did badly was just fine, teachers won’t usually do that. They’ll tell you exactly what you did wrong, and how to fix it. Of course some parents make great teachers and they’ll tell you the same thing. Basically what I’m trying to say is that your relationship with your teachers is completely different from your relationship with your family. Of course, that doesn’t stop both entities from placing expectations on you, and I feel it’s my responsibility to meet those expectations.
Goals. They can be so many different things, from the achievable to the impossible, and everything in between. So far I’ve read half of the third excerpt in our reader, “Suggestions for Becoming a Positive Deviant”. The author talks about being just one cog in a machine consisting of billions of other people, and about realizing that though your life may be important to you, most of society wouldn’t notice or care if you disappeared. And it made me think… I realized that it didn’t change any of my goals or plans, and that truthfully, I don’t have any plans past getting a good education and then getting a good job. One lesson that I’ve learned from my parents is that life never works out exactly how you want it to, so you shouldn’t ask for specifics past a certain point. You can’t account for the human aspect of life. Someone else’s mistake could drag you down, even if that wasn’t that person’s intention.
Failure is something everyone tries to avoid, but as the old saying goes; everyone makes mistakes. Thinking about the President’s remarks on turning a failure into a success, I can’t honestly say I can remember a time where that has happened… I guess I tend to dwell either on the failure or on the success, while the rest of the experience fades from my memory. Now, I’m not saying I always do well… that’s quite far from the truth. I make a lot of mistakes. Things like making the wrong thing for dinner, or forgetting to do my homework, or messing up the latest clarinet repair. And a lot of the time, I get in trouble because of my mistakes.
Responsibility, Goals, Failure, all of them are things that teachers and parents are always trying to get us to think about. Being teens, of course none of us want to listen, we want to believe that there’s no way they can understand, and that we know best, and most of all, that our opinions matter. And in truth, they don’t really… a lot of modern society feels that they have the right to impose, not just voice, and their opinions on others. And if you don’t agree, you are the enemy.
Overall I guess that President Obama was trying to say that things aren’t always as they seem… after reading this summer reader and writing this essay, I’ve come to believe that you should look at past events and re-evaluate them, see things how they really are, and not just how you want to see them. Because only then can you actually make a difference, in your community, city, state, country, planet, whatever…. As long as you make some difference that means a lot to you.
Goals. They can be so many different things, from the achievable to the impossible, and everything in between. So far I’ve read half of the third excerpt in our reader, “Suggestions for Becoming a Positive Deviant”. The author talks about being just one cog in a machine consisting of billions of other people, and about realizing that though your life may be important to you, most of society wouldn’t notice or care if you disappeared. And it made me think… I realized that it didn’t change any of my goals or plans, and that truthfully, I don’t have any plans past getting a good education and then getting a good job. One lesson that I’ve learned from my parents is that life never works out exactly how you want it to, so you shouldn’t ask for specifics past a certain point. You can’t account for the human aspect of life. Someone else’s mistake could drag you down, even if that wasn’t that person’s intention.
Failure is something everyone tries to avoid, but as the old saying goes; everyone makes mistakes. Thinking about the President’s remarks on turning a failure into a success, I can’t honestly say I can remember a time where that has happened… I guess I tend to dwell either on the failure or on the success, while the rest of the experience fades from my memory. Now, I’m not saying I always do well… that’s quite far from the truth. I make a lot of mistakes. Things like making the wrong thing for dinner, or forgetting to do my homework, or messing up the latest clarinet repair. And a lot of the time, I get in trouble because of my mistakes.
Responsibility, Goals, Failure, all of them are things that teachers and parents are always trying to get us to think about. Being teens, of course none of us want to listen, we want to believe that there’s no way they can understand, and that we know best, and most of all, that our opinions matter. And in truth, they don’t really… a lot of modern society feels that they have the right to impose, not just voice, and their opinions on others. And if you don’t agree, you are the enemy.
Overall I guess that President Obama was trying to say that things aren’t always as they seem… after reading this summer reader and writing this essay, I’ve come to believe that you should look at past events and re-evaluate them, see things how they really are, and not just how you want to see them. Because only then can you actually make a difference, in your community, city, state, country, planet, whatever…. As long as you make some difference that means a lot to you.
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