Future Students

Dear future 110 students,
So you've signed up for English 110. You are probably thinking I can't wait to get this class over with. Maybe you hate writing or you just aren't good at it, whatever the reason is don't stress about this class, that's what's going to into trouble.

I started off the class with a feeling of "why me." I felt that the teacher was giving us to much to do, I didn't understand what the point of the class was, and not to mention I am horrible with reading, writing and especially grammar. However, that all changed for me not that far into the class year. A lady from the OSU Writing Center came in and talked about what they did and how they could help us. I decided to check them out a couple days later. They helped me with grammar, getting my ideas together and everything else that goes into writing a good paper. The Writing Center is something I think everyone should at least check to help you succeed in this class no matter what your level of writing is. Even with the help from the Writing Center individual effort is what really determines weather you succeed or fail.
So my list to success are these things
-Time management
-Seek help
-Motivate yourself

Cats

During my freshman year my mother and I took on the responsibility of caring for a family friend's pregnant cat, while she was off on vacation in Florida. My mom and I were only told to feed the cat and change her litter box. We were told that the cat shouldn't give birth till after her owner returned, boy was that correct. Two days before her owner return the cat gave birth to her kittens. I remember how disgusting the whole process was, and worse we had to clean it up, which by the way was not fun! The actual even I think will be etched into my mind forever. Seeing these slimy, oval creature come out of the back of this cat and causing her pain grossed me out and I couldn't eat anything that night.
After the whole ordeal was over we decided it would be better to bring the cats to our house where we could keep a closer eye on them. Adding them to the collection of animals at or house wasn't that big of a hassle at first, even though there were 10 animals in the house now (one dog and nine cats). We set the cats up in their own room and everything was fine. After a while we figured since my dog doesn't mine our original cats, and that two out of three of them came from the pregnant cat, that there would be any issues. It turns out cats can be very protective of their new borns. The mother attacked all of my pets in a furious rage, so we just couldn't wait to hand her back over to her own owner. But the good thing about the whole ordeal is that my family added another cat to the collection. So after all the other cats were returned we had five animals in the house. I think that 10 animals are way too many and glad that none of my cats are pregnant, so they don’t go crazy on one another.

Favorite Band

For me one of my all time favorite bands is the Red Hot Chili Peppers. They have a unique sound and style in their music, which is probably why I like them so much. Most people I know one like them for their new music but I like them for their old and new music. They have changed their style of music from a mix of somewhat rap/funk and rock, to a slower tempo rock and alternative style. It’s nice to see a change in the type of music they’ve played started to play in this decade. To me this shows a well roundness, since they can play more than one kind of music. The individuals in the group are unique and great at what they do. Anthony Kiedis the lead singer has a great voice and a nice style. Michael Balzary known as “Flea” is my favorite bass player and one of the best around. And Chad Smith is a great drummer who just happens to look just like Will Ferrell, which I find hilarious. For me it’s more than just the music, it’s what the band has gone through as well. They have overcome drug use that has almost ended the band. The original drummer died from a heroin overdose which caused his friend the original guitarist to leave. With Kiedis a user of drugs as well as the loss of his friend, this could have caused the breakup of the band but he eventually got clean and they added some new member. To me this shows adversity in a bad situation. With their great music, ability to overcome and change they are a step above other bands.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlUKcNNmywk

Basketball court

I spend quite a lot of time at my the local Lifetime Fitness gym. 95% of that time is spent in the basketball courts. Playing majority of the days of the week it's become almost like a seconded home to me (especially since it's open 24 hours). There are two basketball courts that are next to each other, split only by a curtain. The courts are standard hard wood, with only black lines to show where the basic lines are on the court. At first glance you may not know it but the courts are surrounded by glass. On the second level overlooking the courts, the doors, the windows to the parking lot, as well the connecting climbing wall and the racket ball courts that are on either side.
As the you first visit the basketball court area you are usually awed by the size and the number of things you can do in this area. You will could away with a feeling of that you want to come back, this is also aided by the staff that work there since they want you to be happy. Without knowing it they will shove down your throat a sense of belonging, and community. By having so many things for so many age groups (climbing wall, basketball, volleyball, racket ball, day camp for children, ect.) they are saying that everyone should stay as long as they won't and have fun together.
But is this necessarily true? no. With the number of things for people to do it can a actually have the opposite effect. With the many activities going on, they can easily over lap time slots. If a large number of people want to play basketball, but one of the courts is used up by 1/6 the amount of basketball players, then the basketball players will start to feel resentment towards them. The same is true for the volleyball players being harassed. Even the day camps can cause unrest with the majority group in the court area at the time.
With the amount of glass everywhere, the place seems open and inviting at first. But even thought the facility is open 24/7 they really only wish you to be in there during the day. While the courts have lights over them it is much darker at night. Sunlight pours in from all the windows, and the place shines during the day. However when the sun goes down the place becomes dims and dull, with not every activity available, which mean less things to do, and less of a reason to be there. So even though it's a 24/7 gym they really don't want you there 24/7. This makes perfect sense since it would cost them more, and a lot of people sleep at night.

High School Needs To Prepare Students More!

When I started college I felt that the writing that was expected of me was beyond what I had learned in high school. Even with having to take an English class every year I felt the way we were taught and expected to write didn't help us enough in becoming able to write at the college level. The writing assignments were too relaxed, and majority of them only required an introduction, body, and conclusion. The research papers required you to do gather information on a topic but more than likely the teacher would be happy with all internet sources. This differs from college greatly. I've found that professors in college don't want a simple, straightforward paper. They want to challenge yourself, and write a compelling paper that will make the reader actually want to finish the whole thing. They also don't want a bunch of internet sites as you main sources of information. Since not every internet site is legit, it makes having a word sited list not as creditable. Thus why professors want books and journals to be used as well, so you'll have a more respectable paper. If I would have been taught these thinks while in high school I would of been able to hit the ground running in college.
Even if I was taught strategies for keeping my audience interested in my paper, or to go beyond the internet to find good reliable sources in books and academic journal, I would still have to deal with the grading difference in college compared to high school. In high school your paper only had to follow the simple standard criteria.
"Is the paper in an order that makes sense to the reader?"
"Does your paper have a introduction, 3 body paragraphs, and conclusion?"
"Is the paper free of grammar errors?"
"Is there a word sited list included?"
When entering college I thought the papers would graded the same, but I was wrong. Papers must consist of an introduction that grabs the reader's attention, and a conclusion that isn't just repeating the introduction. When your paper is finished it isn't suppose to contain any grammar errors where as in high school you could still get a 100 if you have a few grammar errors. This just shows that the teaching I received in high school didn't prepare me enough for what true college papers require.