Reflective Essay

When blogging was first introduced to me, it was something out of the ordinary. In English class, our writing usually followed specific objectives or prompts which was something that was always out of my interest. But blogging was entirely different. It was a place where we can free write about almost anything that came to mind. Over the course of a quarter, I learned to improve upon the struggles dealt with writer’s block, explore a variety of ideas I can use for my blog posts, and also explore how others felt about certain topics.

When I was first introduced to blogging, I noticed that writer’s block was becoming a constant problem throughout my blogs. When I begin to write, I usually start off by blurting everything on my mind about the topic. After that was over, I always notice that I was never near the number of words I am supposed to aim for (350 words at least). This is the moment in which writer’s block is at its strongest. To get unstuck, I usually searched for a solution that, in conclusion added more to the problem: redundancy. By using redundancy to get unstuck, I made my blogs look really repetitive and disinteresting. As I used redundancy more and more as a method to get unstuck, I started to notice a pattern in my work. My blogs were becoming more and more boring. That’s when I also noticed there was another problem and that was my preparation of my blogs. An example of my redundancy can be found in my opinion on what my responsibility as a student is:

“As a student, I think I carry out a lot of responsibilities. One important responsibility that stands out is how I complete and handle the work that is assigned to me from teachers, and eventually professors.  As a student, I think that I am mainly responsible for completing all, not just some, of the work assigned to me as hard and as much as possible.” 

In the second sentence, I state my opinion on what my responsibility as a student is. In the third sentence, I am doing the same thing, just in other words. This is an example of how writer’s block can contribute to the redundancy I see in my work. I’m focusing on one topic and repeating the same thing over and over again. But as weeks go by and I post more blogs, I start to eliminate this by switching to a whole new subject about the topic but not so different of a subject that it gets off topic. An example of my new solution is exemplified in my response to Leon’s post about books:  

“Leon states that the number of books he has read without being forced to can be counted with two hands, you can count the number I have read with only one! And even those aren't necessarily voluntary by me!

When I look over why books are such a problem and distress for me, I kinda blame myself, not the books. I have not looked over the kinds of book that are of my interest.”

Instead of focusing simply on the subject of “How many books have I read?” writer’s block kicks in and I avoid it by moving on to a new subject. This is one of the methods I have learned over the course of the first quarter of blogging and has proven to be very helpful not just in my blogging assignments. It has also proven helpful and essays and other work beyond just blogging.

Going back to my first blogs, there wasn’t much topics of my interest that I could blog about. So instead of searching for something new to express my ideas and perspectives about, I went to my summer assignments and just typed them up and posted them as blog posts. But then I noticed I wasn’t really going anywhere in terms of improving my writing methods or in learning how to avoid the chance of writer’s block occurring. That’s when I started to browse around both the freshmen and also fellow sophomore blog posts and observed the variety of topics that were pouring in through Google Reader. Topics included sports, weather, music, books, and numerous others. That’s when I began to get the idea myself to start posting blogs about topics that I liked as well. The first thing that that came to mind was sports so I started blogging about how horrendous the Oakland Raiders were:

“So far...The Oakland Raiders have a record of two losses and one win (1-2). Am I angry? YES! The Raiders do not deserve that record! The last game they played, a loss of 23-24 to the Arizona Cardinals was horrible to watch for a Raiders fan.”

In this blog, I start to express my feelings about the Oakland Raiders and how disappointing they can be at times. This also shows one of my first assignments in which I start to express how I feel about certain topics, something we don’t do in English assignments. What we usually do in our English assignments is follow specific prompts and objectives that are never really in our interests. But this year, it all changed when blogger was introduced to us. We are able to talk about whatever comes to our mind and express it and also explore what other are expressing and how others see certain things from their view points that I might see entirely differently. It is also a good feeling when you find that others feel the same way about certain topics as you do. In my response post to Leon Liang, I relate to his feelings toward books and what effect they have:

“When i read this portion of the blog, i feel almost the same exact way! Books to me are really boring and they are barely read by me. In those rare occasions where I reading books, it is because i am in a situation in which i am forced to read it! Its either "read" or "get an F" situations that i am caught with a book in my hand. While Leon states that the number of books he has read without being forced to can be counted with two hands, you can count the number I have read with only one! And even those aren't necessarily voluntary by me!”

In this blog post, I relate to Leon and his difficult times with books. We share the same opinion towards books and how boring they can get. Like Leon’s blog post, there are numerous topics that are discussed by my classmates that I can relate a whole lot to and there are also some that I disagree entirely on as well. Either way, I am always learning new things about how people feel about certain topics in our society.

"Night" Essay

People look to religion for many reasons. Sometimes they look to religion for guidance. Sometimes they are looking to help. No matter what the reason is, religion has been a part of peoples’ lives for a long time. In the story, Night by Elie Wiesel, the central conflict is character vs. supernatural because the main character Eliezar has a hard time keeping faith in his religion.

Eliezar begins to question God’s role in his life. Eliezar and his family are taken to concentration camps. He is separated from his mother and sister upon arrival, never to see them again. From the start, Eliezer witnesses horrifying scenes of those already in the concentration camps. This is when he begins to question. As he narrates, he explains: “I did not deny God’s existence, but I doubted His absolute Justice” (42). Eliezar faith in God is beginning to fall apart. Eliezar, once strongly religious and growing up in the belief that everything was a reflection of God’s work, began to lose his faith. Not only that, but he also wanted to grow up to become a Rabbi. This was very surprising of him, especially given the fact that he spent almost all of his childhood studying the Torah and praying at the temple. Though Eliezer is loosing faith in his religion, he stills hasn’t given up on it completely. He is still merely in the beginning phases of ‘doubt[ing] His absolute justice”, meaning he still has a strong relationship with God. As more and more devastating events occur and Eliezer begins to crumble on the inside-out, he then begins to doubt more than just His justice in the world.

Eliezar begins to lose patience in waiting for an answer from God. Eliezer and the rest of the prisoners continue to go through brutal conditions and many of them are killed as each day goes by. More questions begin to arise within Eliezer about whom God is and what is his role in the concentration camps are, killing the faith in his religion he once strictly followed within him softly. As the prisoners prey for a sign of hope from God, Eliezer exemplifies his rebellion through his narration in the book: “Why, but why should I bless Him? In every fiber I rebelled. Because He had had thousands of children burned in His pits? Because He kept six crematories working night and day, on Sundays and feast days? Because in His great might He had created Auschwitz, Birkenav, Buna, and so many factories of death?” (64). Eliezer is basing the death camps on his religion, in which he believes he believes everything is a reflection of God’s work. So, he connects it to that belief by stating that God is the reason for all of these inhumane practices that are occurring. Eliezer is moving into a phase in which he now questions God’s intentions. He is in a way comparing God to a devilish figure, something hugely out of context of his Jewish religion. Eventually, the concentration camps are too much and lead to a disastrous conclusion about how he feels towards his religion.

Eliezar’s faith in his religion has lost all stablebility and he moves into a state of confusion. As each day goes by, the gap of hope he has that he’ll be free shrinks. But it was not the possibility of him being free that destroyed his faith, but it was his experiences in the camp and why God hasn’t acted in freeing the innocent lives in the concentration camps. His questions have come to a silence. In a foreshadowing located early in the story, Eliezer describes the setting and position he is in: “the night was gone. The morning star was shining in the sky. I too had become a completely different person. The student of the Talmud, the child that I was, had been consumed in the flames. There remained only a shape that looked like me. A dark flame had entered into my soul and devoured it” (34). Eliezer states here that the teachings, faith, and knowledge of God within him have been carved out of him. God is no longer a figure he looks up to. His frustrations within the death camps and witnessing those who were completely innocent died there have convinced him: God is not there.

Eliezer was a kid who loved his religion and there was all good in it. This all changed for him in what seems like an instant. There are a lot of people who convert to other religions due to similar occurrences, even though they might not be as harsh as what Eliezer went through.

My Letter to Ms. McCoy

One highlight I had over the summer of 2010 was when I visited Napa Valley in Northern California. Though my family and I didn’t go there to try some wine, we did have a fun time and got to relax a lot. When I think of someone who inspires me, I think of my parents. My parents are always there to encourage me to be successful and make sure I get the job done correctly. 

One of my favorite academic subjects is science mainly because of all the things you learn that you had no clue about before. It is also very fascinating to know how the life we live in works and be amazed at how it all works out. When schools out, I usually get some sleep if I’m really tired or I’ll be out with some family or friends playing sports or watching a movie. I think my strengths overall is that I am confident in the things I do and I can get things done at a fast pace. My strengths in math are that I am able to calculate basic math really quick like addiction, subtraction, multiplication, and division. The challenges I have in general is that I am an extremely big procrastinator. Sometimes it is hard for me to focus on work when I get easily distracted by the surroundings around me. 

My challenges in math include fractions and other complicated equations that requires multiple steps. I think this is mainly due to the long method that you have to go through to get the correct answer, which is why I get lost along the way a lot. I plan to be successful in Algebra 2 by listening and watching carefully on the methods to solve equations because once you get through this part, you will know how things have to be done and finish without any problems on future assignments. How you can help for me to be successful is just to clarify things out when it gets confusing and a little complex. 

I chose Alameda Science and Technology Institute mainly due to what it had to offer: college classes, extracurricular activities, etc. Specifically how we become full time college students once we become juniors and graduate with at least an AA degree is a big deal.  What I see myself doing in five years is hopefully studying hard at a university. I hope to attend a university that is not too far from home so that I can be close to my family. Universities like University of California Berkeley or University of California Los Angeles are preferable because of their locations inside California. 

I am not sure where I see myself in ten years and I’m not sure if there are any occupations I have in plan of pursuing.  Other than that, I come from of family of seven including me. I have two older sisters, an older brother, and a younger brother that is currently attending Alameda Science and Technology Institute as his first year. My hopes are to succeed and to try my best efforts into doing well here at ASTI for the next three years and what life has to offer for me after I walk down the aisle at graduation along with the class of 2013.

Response to "No Free Time" by Stan Anderson

Going through some blogs, I found one that I can relate to a whole lot. The blog was about the tons of homework we are assigned daily, which get in the way of our social lives. Here is a quote from this blog by Stan Anderson:

"I am a teenager, I need to have a life. This is the part of my life where I am meant to be social. I have friends that I want to hang out with, girls to get at, new people to meet. But with all of the homework we have these days I am restricted from d0ing anything. Also me having a terrible procrastination problem is never helpful. I get distracted directly after I finish my first homework assignment. Then I sit there trying to stay focused until dinner is made, after i finish up my homework and my parents then make me go to bed, It is a very uneventful night."

The homework ASTI assigns us is ALOT OF WORK! We get at least three hours worth of homework daily! Like Stan says it, it butts into our social lives and gives us less time to kick it with friends and stuff and sometimes no time at all.

From my perspective, I don't think it's such a good idea to assign a lot of work like ASTI does. Because of the huge amount we receive, I personally don't get out of it as much as I would like to if I were assigned less homework. I am in a rush to finish it all in time and get some sleep that my goal is just trying to get it completed rather than learn from what i am doing. This does get eventually stressful, especially when you look at students from other schools who are going out and having fun all the time. Yes, I understand that it is helpful in the long run in our lives but still, its too much!

Especially with the procrastination problem I have, I don't officially start my homework until 8-9pm and even while I'm doing homework then, I'm always distracted by something. The time it takes to finish up a 30min homework assignment actually takes me an hour and a half because of the amount of time I abandon it and head for something else more entertaining. The result? I go to sleep around 2-3am and wake up for school in the morning real sleepy and cranky, ignoring everyone around me.

The Dissapointing Raiders

So far...The Oakland Raiders have a record of two losses and one win (1-2). Am I angry? YES! The Raiders do not deserve that record! The last game they played, a loss of 23-24 to the Arizona Cardinals was horrible to watch for a Raiders fan. The Raiders were great throughout the whole game, taking a whole lot of hail marry chances, making the game more and more exciting. I wasnt neccarily dissapointed at the whole Raiders team effort, even though they could've done better. I was angry at our Kicker.

A Touchdown in football means you get six points, and a chance to get one or two points added to it. If you choose to kick the ball through the two poles instead of a touchdown, it is worth three points. This is called a field goal. It sounds dumb to beginners to go for field goals instead of touchdowns but actually, field goals are very common in football. Well, a situation in which a field goal was needed was when there was only about 5<seconds left. The Raiders were too far from making a touchdown before time runs out. So they decided to kick it through the poles. The score was 23-24 Arizona in the lead. So the right things to do was kick a field goal. Our kicker had to kick it from 32 yards away. This is no big deal! Especially when our kicker has kicked a 61 yard field goal before and two 50-plus yard field goals in the same game. People thought the game was over and the Raiders would be in the lead 26-24. Prior to the kick, I was shaking because at that moment i had this feeling he was going to miss it!

And what happens next? The play goes on, the kick goes up, the clock ticks to zero. The kick was wide left...The referees signal it NO GOOD. The crowd goes crazy in excitement (Obviously this was in Arizona).

If the Raiders don't retaliate with a win this Sunday...I might just give up on watching them and might as well be a Niner fan. Nah! They suck even more with a record of 0-3 so I think I'll stay with my Raiders.

Response Post: Lucid Dreaming for Beginners" by Carly Cheung

While being forced to go through some posts so that I can find one I can respond to, I found one that was awesome and made me think. Here is a quote from the blog by Carly Cheung:

"A few weeks ago, I was browsing through the Yahoo! articles and I found an extremely fascinating article topic to post about: Lucid dreams. What is a lucid dream? Well, lucid dreams, as it implies in its name, are dreams that are lucid, or clear. In the Yahoo! article and other sources I found, they stated that people can actually be aware of themselves in their dreams and control their dreams! That means no more nightmares! Such acquisition is amazing! Let me tell you how this is possible as clear as I am capable of."

From my perspective, this sounds almost impossible to do because I can never really tell that I am in a dream until I actually wake up. Sometimes, I think that my dreams actually occurred and weren't really a dream. So, the thought of me controlling my dreams does not seem foreseeable.

Carly also later explains in her blog that it takes practice to become capable of controlling your dreams. If I could control my dream, I don't think I would ever want to wake up again! I would never get a nightmare again! Dreaming would be my drug!

I can also recall lucid dreaming once in my dreams. I found out that what was going on was too crazy and silly to be true and all of a sudden, it hit me while i was dreaming: "I'M DREAMING!". I don't remember much like all of my dreams but then i think i woke up. I'm not sure if that situation was a step forward in which Carly states it needs practice to master "Lucid Dreaming", but if those situations occur in my dreams all the time, THAT FEELING WOULD BE AMAZING.

Overall, I think everyone would love to try lucid dreaming. The first thing i would try to do is fly! I always wanted to do that and trying it out in my dreams sounds like the perfect place to experience that feeling.

My Vocabulary Words

1.derive
2.perceived
3.constraint
4.adequate
5.prior
6.alter
7.facilitate
8.retain
9.perspective
10.parameter