In Class Group Exercise: Cubing Creatively

Associate It:  Swimsuits

Swimsuits are related to underwear.  It covers up areas that are private while you are in public.  It is connected to the sun and water.  Some like to swim while wearing it while others like to lounge in the sun to deepen the color of their skin.  The older or younger you are seems to dictate the amount of fabric used to cover the body.





 

 

Compare It:  Finger Paint

Finger paint comes in many bright colors.  It can be messy.  It makes a wonderful beautifying tool.  Both men and women can paint themselves to look great for a night out on the town.  At the end of the night, couples can rub up against each other and make beautiful new colors.

My Thoughts on Cate Hutson’s “How I Learned to Love Traveling Solo”

            I enjoyed reading Cate Hutson’s blog.  It was well written in a conversational way, as if she were sharing advice with a dear friend.  Her experiences and perspective on the topic was well thought out and straight to the point.  I like how that she not only gave little helpful hints but she also gave reasons behind why she felt that way with a little back story on actual experiences.

            In relation to our first unit of this quarter, it shows yet another style of writing.  As the fifth educational narrative, I think it is the most casual.  The way she used subheadings gave a little taste as to what she was going to talk about next.  It also gave a welcomed break while reading.  As a new “subject” approached, it gave me a small opportunity to breathe and ponder what I just read before.  It also lends to the opportunity to quickly scan the blog and go back to previously read material if I want to reread certain passages.

            Of all the examples we were presented in this class so far, this one is the one I like the most.  I also appreciate that it was short.  I find that shorter stories are less daunting, especially when it relates to choosing which blogs to read.

Malcolm X vs. Mike Rose: A Comparison of Essays

            For this blog post, I was assigned the task to compare the essays “Learning to Read” by Malcolm X and “I Just Wanna Be Average” by Mike Rose.  I found many similarities in the writings even though they are quite different.  They each covered educational experiences they have encountered. 

            Malcolm X wrote about how he learned to read in the prison system.  He felt that the education he got by teaching himself to read and understand the English language by studying the dictionary helped him articulate his thoughts and feelings to a higher degree.   Self teaching enriched not only his vocabulary; it opened up his mind to new horizons.  He could then understand and learn how to appreciate the other texts he read as well.  The ability to express himself helped further his personal interests. 

            Mike Rose wrote about how he was placed in a vocational learning path due to mistaken identity; he shared the name Rose with another student.  He felt that he received a substandard education that would make it hard to achieve greater things in life based on test scores and placement tests.  He used many examples of just doing the minimum or not putting any effort forth at all.

            I found Malcolm X’s writing style to be an easier read while Mike Rose’s story was hard to follow.  While they were both educational narratives, I found the differences to be night and day.  It may be due to the vast differences in their educational experiences of the particular time of their lives that they wrote about.  While both were academically disadvantaged, they choose two different ways to view and handle their situations.  I found Malcolm X’s narrative to be inspiring, while Rose’s left me with a feeling of disappointment.  A person’s drive to succeed makes all the difference.

(Not So) Successful (Pre)-Writing

             For this blog, I am supposed to write about what sorts of successful pre-writing I have done in my past.  To say that I enjoy writing would be far from the truth, I detest it.  I would rather give a speech, do algebra or learn a foreign language.  But truthfully, I am not good at those subjects either.

            While in elementary school, we had to keep a journal in my 6^th grade language arts class.  Every day, the teacher gave us 5-10  minutes of free writing.  My sister found my journal at my mom’s house about 2 years ago and asked if I wanted it back.  She laughed as she told me that she looked it over with my mom.  It consisted of an entire school year of different variations of the same theme.  “I do not know what to write.”  “Why do we have to write in our journal every day?”  And my favorite, “…Three more minutes left.”  all the way down to “…One more minute left…”  I told her to throw it away.

            When I was in high school, my freshman English teacher told me that I was doing well in her class.  That was impressive coming from her.  She was also in charge of the Drama Club.  She said that if I continued to do well, she would move me up to her AP English class.  I ended up with a “D” grade in the class.  My junior year, my English teacher approached me asking about my first paper that was overdue.  I told him, “I don’t ‘do’ papers.”  I got a “D” in his class as well.

            When I got to college, I did not fare any better.  This is my third time taking English 101.  The first two times where in the early 1990’s right after high school.  I got “W” for those.  “W” stands for “Withdrawal”.  I dropped those classes.  I could not stomach taking those classes.  Because if my past (non)performance in English in high school, I was nowhere near prepared to take it in college.

            So, here we are over 20 years later and I hope that this is the last time I have to take this class.  For me “pre-writing” consists of at least 3 P’s…Ponder, procrastinate, and puke.  First, I ponder about what I should write.  Then, I procrastinate about when I should write.  And finally, I puke because the deadline came and went and I didn’t write at all.

            So you ask me, “What sorts of pre-writing you have used successfully in the past?”  Well, I can honestly tell you, “None.”  Null.  Nada.

 

What Is The Most Important Lesson You Have Ever Learned?

 

The most important lesson I have ever learned is not to judge people.  It is much harder than it seems.  Truthfully, this is a subject that I am still working on.

 

            There have been times when a friend has confided in me about a personal problem or issue.  These friends may have been looking for advice or just needed someone to listen.  Many times, I could not empathize with their situation because their experience was something that I had not personally dealt with in my own life.  I wouldn’t necessarily make a judgment about them, but I felt that if I encountered the same situation in my life, I would draw from my past experiences and handle it quite differently.

 

            Now here comes the hard part.  When I actually encounter similar situations, I find that the right choice is not as easy to make as I had originally thought.  It’s complicated.  Many times, I have fallen into the same traps by making the exact same decisions that they had or my decisions brought worse outcomes. 

 

            You never know what people are going through or the struggles they are facing in life.  Even when you do share a common experience, no two experiences are exactly the same.  I remind myself that the friend that confided in me in the past may be the same friend that I will need to seek advice from someday.  How I treat them in the past will certainly affect how inclined they are to help me in the future.

Commentary Regarding My First Paper Assignment

            For my college English 101 class, I have been assigned to write 3 formal papers.  The first of the three is supposed to be a 1,000-1,200 word narrative essay about a significant educational experience from my life.  There have been so many significant moments.  To help us narrow down the subject, our professor had us do a writing exercise.  In class we had a few moments to answer the question, “What is the most important lesson you have ever learned?” 

            At this particular moment in my life, the topic that is meaningful to me is the subject of judgment.  I have pondered this topic for some time.  What judgments have I made about other people?  What judgments have I made about myself?  What judgments have other people made about me?  These questions came to light when a friend posted a quote on Facebook.  This anonymous quote has been posted on the internet with some variations, “Everyone is fighting a battle you know nothing about.  Be kind.  Always.”  These words really hit home for me.  Hard.

 

Life Beyond 40

I turned 41 last month.  September 11^th to be exact.  In the past 12 years, I have gotten solemn birthday greetings instead of exuberant, “Happy Birthday!” ones.  It’s almost as if people are apologetic to me because I was born on the date of such a horrific day in United States history.  No need for apology, it was my birthday for many years before that tragic event.

          The 40^th year of my life was a whirlwind.  As an outsider looking in, it would seem like I went through my midlife crisis right on cue.  Not only was I “over the hill”, but I seemed to have soared “beyond the mountain” as well.  I lived just about every cliché in the book in that one single year; minus the shiny, sleek sports car.  Wait.  That is stereotypically what men do, right? 

          I learned very much about myself in a relatively short amount of time.  More things than I have learned in one single year of any other part of my entire life.  There are a lot of experiences to be had in forty years of life, right?  But as I start my 41^st year, the same questions still remain:  Who am I?  What am I supposed to be when I grow up?  When will I figure it out?  Where should I be in this point of my life?  Why haven’t I figured it all out by now?  How am I supposed to find the answers to these questions?  

          I had to get to the middle of my life in order to have enough life experiences to reflect back upon to try to make sense of it all.  And it seems that I will be moving forward, hopefully finding the answers.

          My husband turns 40 this coming April.  I hope he is easier to deal with than I have been.  And maybe, just maybe, there is still a shiny, sleek sports car in my future…