Reflective Essay

This first quarter of school has been the first time I've ever had a blog. In the beginning I thought it would be difficult to write two of these each week, but it actually turned out to not be that challenging. Blogging has also made me think more about situations that I encounter during my day to day life than I have before. In addition, I enjoy how unlike most writing assignments we get in school, we get to write about pretty much anything we want to.

When we were first assigned to write two blogs a week, I predicted that I would have a pretty hard time doing this. I especially felt like this was going to be a challenge for me when I read the guidelines and saw how many words we were expected to write. I didn't think that I would be able to find a topic that I could write at least three hundred words on, let alone two. However, almost each time I worked on a new post for my blog it wasn't as hard to do as I had expected. Sometimes I would just take a simple, random idea that popped into my head and write a complete blog post about it. I didn't think that I would be able to fully go in depth to some of these topics I came up with, but I did. For example, once I did a blog post on how most teenage Disney Channel stars don't have successful, lasting careers. I got this idea just by watching a story on Lindsay Lohan on TV and about 6 people responded to it. It was interesting to see how some people had the same ideas and opinions that I did. I also surprised myself with how I was able to make sure I got at least one of my blog posts done before Friday night. When we first started this assignment I would usually have both of my blog posts done by at least Tuesday night. I was proud of myself because usually when I get work at school and I have a couple of days to do it, I'll just procrastinate at do it at the last minute. However, in the beginning of the year this would usually be one of the first things I finished. Unfortunately, now as we are getting more homework in our other classes I sometimes wait to do my blogs last. It doesn't take me very long, but I want to push myself to go back to my old habit of completing my work early.

Starting this blog has also made me think differently about things I see daily. Weather I'm on the bus or just walking down the street, I can usually find moments or situations that stand out to me and later inspire me to incorporate them into my blog. One time I was on the bus and I saw a couple get accused of stealing some mans wallet. I'm not positive, but I had a feeling that they were guilty. I heard the person next to me whisper that they saw the man slip something into the woman's sleeve when he got off the bus to talk to the police. They also had a daughter and this kind of affected me because I felt bad for her. I imagined what her life was like at home and how her parents probably struggle for money to pay for a place to live and food to eat. It seemed like I thought of this more in depth than I normally would have. However, I didn't put my thoughts on this situation on my blog because it was on one of the weeks when we were working on a different assignment. In my blogs, I really enjoy being able to express my opinion on certain things and generalize an idea from a specific situation I witness.

Another thing that I enjoy about these blog assignments is that we can write about pretty much anything we want to. There's such a wide variety of topics we could discuss and share that it is kind of hard not to find anything to write about. I've seen people write about their week at school, a movie they saw over the weekend, I've even seen some people write poems on their blogs. There's just so much to write about and sometimes it's nice to be able to share your thoughts with other people. In most of our other classes, whenever we write papers we don't really have as much freedom as we do in this class. For example, in writing when we have big papers and essays due there are usually a lot of guidelines we have to follow in order to get a good grade on it. We normally have to write about a topic that we get assigned by our teacher. Sometimes when I write these papers I have a hard time coming up with ideas to write about which is normally the complete opposite for when I am writing posts for my blog. Occasionally I will have a struggle with finding a topic or idea to write about for my blog since there is such a broad range of ideas, but when this does happens you can always just do two response post for the week which is also a good way to get yourself thinking. Also, having a requirement for students to have at least one response post a week is a good way to get students discussing certain topics with each other and sharing their opinions with one another. This could also contribute to starting online debates between students which is good practice for future debates we have in class.

All in all, I think writing blogs is a great way for me to practice my writing and express my ideas at the same time. In the beginning I expected to have some sort of challenge with this, but I have surprised myself with how I am able to turn simple ideas into 400 word blog posts. Writing these posts have also made me think and analyze situations more thoroughly. I enjoy having freedom to write about whatever comes to my mind and I believe that this assignment has been and will be successful in helping students practice their writing skills in an enjoyable way.

REAL FINAL DRAFT!! NOT THE OTHER ONE OF MICE &MEN!!

 Sutherland! this is my real final draft, not the other one .

John Stienbecks's novella Of Mice and Men tells the story of two migrant workers, George Milton and Lennie Small. After getting stranded by a bus, far away from the camp they intended to report to in California, the two travel to a nearby ranch in search of some sort of work. Once they get there, they both (especially Lennie) face many challenges. Later on in the book we learn that Lennie has a mental disability, and since he is a giant, this is a huge challenge for him. A lot of the times, he accidentally causes pain to someone or destroys something because he just really has no way to control it.

There are a few other conflicts that occur in this book, but the central problem is a self vs. self situation with Lennie. Since he has a mental illness, Lennie does things unintentionally that get him into trouble with other people on the ranch. He is also very big and strong, but unfortunately he doesn't realize the kind of strength he has and that if he isn't careful, it can be very dangerous.

For example, when the men on the ranch find Curley's wife dead in the barn, they are really mad at Lennie and want him killed. However, George tries to defend him and says:

“Lennie never done it in meanness. All the time he done bad things,

he never done one of 'em mean” (pg. 95)

This quote from George is a good explanation on Lennie's intentions. He is saying that even though Lennie does some “bad things” on occasion, he never does them on purpose. Whenever he makes mistakes or hurts someone, it is only on accident. In other words, Lennie is pretty much a gentle giant because he is very big and strong, but he never really wants to hurt anyone or cause them pain. For example, when he broke Curley's wife's neck, Lennie shouldn't have really been the one blamed for it because she was the one making him feel nervous and uncomfortable. She was a very promiscuous woman and towards the end of the book, her and Lennie are alone in the barn together and she starts coming on to him. He remembers George telling him to stay away from her, but when he tries to get away, she won't leave him alone. So, out of fear Lennie grabs Curley's wife by her hair and, because he is so strong, he accidentally snaps her neck and kills her.

            Another quote I found in the book was when George was talking to Slim about Lennie. He says:

 

“ 'Course he ain't mean. But he gets in trouble alla time because he's so God damn dumb. Like what happened in Weed... He seen this girl in a red dress. Dumb bastard like he is, he wants to touch ever'thing he likes. Just wants to feel it. So he reaches out to feel this red dress an' the girl lets out a squawk and that gets Lennie all mixed up, and he holds on 'cause that's the only thing he can think to do... I socked him over the head with a fence picket to make him let go.... He's so God damn strong, you know.” (pg. 41)

This second quote is another example of how Lennie's actions can get him into sticky situations. When him and George were in Weed, Lennie just saw a lady in a dress that he thought looked good. Because of his mental illness, he didn't realize that if he was to just go up and touch it that it would probably frighten the woman wearing the dress. Unfortunately, because this woman didn't know that Lennie's actions were completely innocent, she screamed and shrieked and later on, a couple of big tough guys came around looking for Lennie and George. This got both of them into a tough situation because for a couple of days, they had to stay in hiding to make sure that none of the guys hurt them.

            So, in my opinion, Lennie's struggle with his own mental illness causes a self vs. self conflict in Of Mice and Men. Even though he doesn't mean to, his own disability causes harm to both himself and other characters in the book. This is one of the central issues throughout the story and a lot of other issues that occur in the book are either caused or effected by Lennie's disability. It isn't his fault but it causes a lot of trouble. Lennie vs. Lennie is a huge conflict in Of Mice and Men.

Re: I miss UPA by Christy Nghe

After reading Christy's post about how she misses her old middle school, I decided to write about how I feel about leaving mine. In her blog she states:

  For the one's that when to UPA or Urban Promise Academy, at some point we all disliked that school. I wouldn't use hate because hate is a strong word. UPA is an okay school ... one thing I disliked about that school is the fact that they have Homework Detention. Homework Detention is pretty self explanatory, if you do not do your homework they simply mark you down and you would have to come after school and finish it... I really miss UPA though, I miss all my friends and teachers... Looking back at my times at UPA I wish I can go back.

Christy's school sounds a lot like the middle school I went to. They were very strict about students completing their homework and during my 6th, and part of 7th grade year, they would make us stay in at lunch if we didn't complete our work from the night before. Eventually they changed the rules and our grades would just be effected if we didn't turn in our work. This strategy worked for some students, but obviously you're going to have some kids that don't really care about their grades. However, when the teachers made us stay in for lunch if we didn't do our work, a lot of kids, including myself on occasion, would go into the bathroom before class started and finish it there. Since every single assignment we had from the night before was checked at the same time during homeroom, there would be large groups of girls in the bathroom finishing their work. When they were done, students would cautiously emerge from the bathroom so that they wouldn't be caught by any teachers. It was a very bad habit, but it was hard to break.

I can also relate to Christy when she says that at one point, she disliked her school. When I first began middle school I absolutely hated it. I begged my parents to let me transfer for about the first half of my 6th grade year. Unfortunately, they wouldn't change their mind, and surprisingly I'm kind of glad they didn't. I really liked my 7th grade year of middle school. Sure, there was drama that made me wish I went to a different school at times, but what made it bearable was having my friends with me. I made amazing friends in 7th grade who were honestly the main reason why I didn't really mind going to school because there wasn't anyone at home to talk to but my parents. :) There were definitely times when we would complain that we hated our school though. In our 8th grade year we kept on talking about how we couldn't wait to graduate and leave. We obviously didn't fully realize what we would be leaving behind until the day of graduation when we were all crying on stage, hugging each other, saying that we didn't want to leave one another. Some of us even admitted that we were going to miss some of our teachers.

Now, I still keep in contact with my old schoolmates over Facebook or text messaging, but we don't really get to see each other as much now that we all go to different schools. It is especially challenging for me to visit them since I go to school in Alameda and they all go to schools in San Francisco.  Now that I am actually gone, I miss my middle school sooo much. Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy ASTI and my new friends here, but I also miss my old ones from middle school. I guess this goes to show you, you don't know what you have until it's gone.

I Wish It was Christmas Time

I really wish that it was Christmas time. Christmas is one of my favorite times of the year because I just really like the atmosphere of everything.


The weather may not be what some people perfer, but I actually like the chilly temperature during winter time. In my opinion, I'd rather be cold than hot because when it blazing outside you just get all sweaty and gross and  there isn't much you can do about it. When it's cold you may have to wear a lot of layers, but at least you don't feel dirty. Anyways, the weather during Christmas makes me think of sitting in a coffee shop, with a sweater and scarf, with a cup of hot chocolate. It's just so relaxing and calming, especially when we're on break and don't have to go to school.


I also enjoy going downtown in San Francisco during Christmas time because there are so many people shopping there with their friends and family. There are also a lot of sales in stores and it's always fun to go shopping with your friends. I enjoy going to Union Square with friends as well because Macy's puts up a huge Christmas tree and a couple of weeks after they put it up they light it up at night. It may not sound that exciting, but it's just fun to be there with friends and people who are close to you. They also have puppies and kittens in their windows for adoption. I presonally don't agree with trapping animals in windows, but they are cute to look at.

It's also nice when you turn on the radio and they have holiday music playing, and even though you've heard these songs a million times from the years before, you don't seem to get sick of them. Christmas day is a highly anticipated event and I am always counting down the days of December until the 25th comes. I'm not going to lie, I do look foward to the acquisition of what was put under the Christmas tree the night before, but I also really look foward to getting to spend this day with my family. I have a lot of cousins and a very big family, but I only have one cousin who is pretty much the same age as me. However, her and her parents live all the way in Hawaii so there are only a few times out of the year when she comes to California to visit the rest of us. Christmas is one of the times where they come to visit, hence a reason why I look foward to vistiting my family. When we all come together we eat dinner, catch up, and hand out presents to one another. I always have fun when I'm with my family.

There is so much waiting and anticipation for Christmas day to come. There's so much preperation and shopping that goes into this one day and before you know it, it's over. This is pretty much the only thing I don't like about this time of the year. I always feel sad when Christmas day is over, but i know it will eventually come again.

These are just a few reasons why I wish it was christmas time. I really can't wait even though it isn't Haloween yet, but I know that soon enough it'll be here... and be gone just as quick.

RE:iloveyou, an 8 letter word for bulls**t

A quote i found from Karen Chavez' s blog about love really stuck out to me. She says:

All love basically is you give someone all the love you have until they decided to hurt you or end it...Love doesn't last forever!Love is just a word that someone made like all the other words.

I agree with Karen when she says that love is pretty much just an idea that someone came up with that a lot of people believe. Especially at our age, it is pretty rare to find someone that you will actually be with for the rest of your life. Of course, we all watch movies and read stories about two people finding each other, falling in love and living happily after and we all like to believe that this will happen to us one day, but i've finally realized that this is not what actually happens in real life. We're all only in high school and sure, you can have strong feelings towards someone and feel like you want to be with them forever, but chances are, this isn't going to happen. At this age especially, you can't really automatically believe somoeone you're with when they tell you that they love you, and (not that im judging) but this is normally the case for girls.

When you're a teenager and you are dating a guy, a lot of times they will just tell you what you want to hear, even if they don't mean it in order to get something out of it. For examle, about 2 weeks ago i was watching the Tyra Show and she had about 8 girls on that were around the ages of 13-17. They were discussing about how young they were when they lost their virginity and these girls were surprisingly very young. There was one girl who I think was about 14 and she said that she had very low self esteem. She wasn't the thinnest of girls and she said that she didn't feel like she was pretty enough. So, she turned to guys they would tell her that she was beautiful and that they loved her , but she said after she had sex with them she would never hear from them again.

It kind of shocked me that this girl would just believe all of these guys after having the same situation happen to her more than one. You would think that she would be a little smarter than to continue to believe guys when they said they loved her, but some girls aren't and guys know this. I'm not saying that all guys are cheaters and liers, it's just that at our age a lot of them aren't really looking for love so it's kind of hard to believe them when they tell you they love you.