School, School, School…..

It is so hard to believe that all my classes will be over within the next two weeks and that some of my finals are coming up next week! I am so surprised at how fast this semester has gone by, and how much harder my classes have seemed this semester. First semester seemed easy and manageable, whereas this semester has been much more of a challenge. The main reason for this is I am currently taking calculus, and it has been probably the most difficult course I have taken up to this point in school. After talking to my teacher about why I am struggling in the class, it became apparent that at the University of Arizona calculus courses are for people that already know calculus and basically need a review of it. My teacher actually told me this, and I was quite shocked to find out this information. Having never taken calculus before, this class has been quite a struggle for me, but I have been giving my best efforts in hope that I can pass the class. This Wednesday I have my last calculus exam before the final so I have been frantically trying my best to work on as many calculus problems as possible. There however is only so much calculus I can do before I no longer actually can figure out what I am doing, so luckily this is a nice break in between working on calculus. I have realized that college is all a matter of priorities and scheduling. Next semester I need to be more organized in planning out a set study and homework schedule, and follow it, so I am as productive as possible. College has been a great experience so far and I look forward to many more semesters of it, I however will be quite happy when this calculus class is over!

Journal #7 - Improvements In Writing

First year composition at the University of Arizona has made me realize that I can always become a better writer, and that multiple drafts are always a necessity. In high school I always received A’s on English class papers and in college this has changed. English 102 specifically has given me the knowledge and skills for me to be able to critically analyze and improve upon my papers as well as my classmate’s papers. It has been surprising for me to realize how my writing can improve and how much I have grown as a writer since I came into college level English classes. My first paper in English 101 I was good at focusing on a purpose and writing for certain audiences and as the course of the year continued I became better and better at understanding the idea that it takes multiple drafts to create and complete a successful text. In high school and at the start of college I would generally complete two or three drafts and call my paper good, now however I complete four edits and am still realizing that there is more I can add, take out or change about my paper. I have always been generally good at formatting texts and controlling syntax, grammar, punctuation and spelling. In all my papers there are always some errors with grammar but overall I feel even with those errors I have improved. After going back through my first English 101 essay I also realized that I was trying to sound smarter and more intelligent by changing my tone, which I now know is not necessary. As I look back on my first paper I also realize I still wrote like I did in high school. I started my paragraph off with a question and my title was even a question.

Some advice I would give to students just starting out in first year composition would be:
1) Do not procrastinate! In English classes it will be necessary to start your papers right when you get the assignment so you can make as many drafts as needed, and you will need time to brainstorm ideas.
2) Go to your teacher’s office hours, the Writing center, and have your peers or critique your essays. It is always best to get the most feedback possible for your paper.
3) Realize that attendance is important in all your classes. In English coming to class is necessary to fully understand the assignments and to learn how to better rhetorically analyze different texts and peer editing in class also is helpful.
4) After writing your paper, read the paper aloud or have someone read your paper to you, often you will find you made careless mistakes that don’t sound right.
5) Use your agenda often and plan out a schedule so you don't fall behind in any of your classes.
6) Look up your teachers on ratemyprofessors.com or websites similar to this to make sure you don't get into a completely horrible class that will be hard to switch out of.

Journal #6 - Voice & Tone

Voice and tone are both really important pieces of writing. Voice was one of the six traits of writing that teachers in high school even looked for. Having voice in a paper is essential because it lets the reader know your attitude and thoughts about a subject. Also when your paper has voice the readers can almost hear your style of talking through your writing. It is important to not try to sound like someone you are not. As Mr. Wermers mentioned in class we shouldn’t try to just sound smarter in our papers because we think it sounds good, but rather it is better to just write with the normal style we normally would, and therefore be more informal in our writing. Tone is very similar to voice, and the tone is specifically the way in which you express your writing. Depending upon the topic and the reader your tone and voice may be different, however always try to sound like yourself.

To develop proper voice and tone first the situation you are writing about must be assessed. When writing a letter to a friend you are obviously going to have a much different tone than if you are writing a college acceptance letter. One must be must more formal than the other. Voice and tone can be compared to actual speaking in that we adjust the volume and pitch of our voice, our writing must also be tuned to fit the situation. Some people might think that voice and tone really isn’t that important when writing, but the reality is that it is much more important than we may think it should be. Just as we all will write this journal post differently voice is important in separating peoples styles of writing and in determining peoples opinions.

Some helpful hints I can think of for striking the proper tone in writing are to sound confident and research on topics so you know the situation before writing about it. Another helpful hint is just don’t over think writing. I think sometimes when we are writing we get so wrapped up in trying to sound smart and to portray the best argument that we actually wind up not sounding very intelligent and our writing seems to be a bit jumbled. When writing the first draft I would say to just get your ideas on paper, without thinking about grammar or how you sound, because those things can always be changed later. Once the first draft is complete then go back and change all the little errors you may not have caught when simply writing your paper. Re-read your paper and determine the voice you used in your paper. Often this will be the voice you want to portray to your reader, because it is coming straight from how you feel about a subject. If this isn’t the proper tone then you can change it accordingly. Another helpful hint would be just make sure in papers you don’t contradict yourself. I know this however is easier said than done, because I have done this many times in my papers, but one of the ways to sound the best is simply to not contradict yourself. Hopefully these are some helpful tips, but I look forward to seeing the class's ideas about how to develop the proper voice and tone in papers.

RELAY FOR LIFE!

Last night starting at 6:00 p.m. I began the 2010 Relay for Life walk that was here at the University of Arizona. Relay for Life is a walk that is sponsored by the American Cancer Society, and all the money raised at the event goes to cancer research and support. At the event someone from the team you are on must always be walking and there are luminaries that line the track which people donate to those that either died from or currently have cancer. I did the walk last year as well, and its great to see so many people that come out and help support cancer and help raise money for such a great cause. The night is not only an event that makes you sad; it also brings peoples spirits up. This event has music, food, dancing, karaoke and other events that make it fun and enjoyable to go to. This walk and other walks like these make you feel good about yourself, but also so fortunate to not be sick. Luckily cancer isn’t something that has taken the lives of anyone in my direct family, although it is so hard to see how many people it truly affects. One of the speakers at the event last night was around our age, if not a little older and he has a type of cancer that is incurable and he has to therefore for the rest of his life get chemotherapy daily. This is so saddening for me to hear, as I can’t imagine having to go to the hospital everyday for chemotherapy. The event really if nothing else makes people think about how horrible cancer really is, but also that there is hope, and it was so heartwarming to see so many survivors of cancer that had such a positive outlook on life and were now cancer-free.

Journal #5 - Meaning of Copper Structure

The four men that are depicted in this statue seem to be very strong, wise, and unique. Each has a slightly different stance, but all seem to be fighting against something. The statues seem pure in that they are made of raw materials that show their age. The copper seems to look rusted in areas, yet the structure looks solid. On each side of the wall that separates them there are two men on each side that are pushing up against each other. On each side it seems as though one of the men is pushing against the wall while the other is leaning against the wall. I think the men that are pushing against each other to represent some sort of barrier, possibly in society. These barriers however also could represent some sort of war against the men. The men all appear to be in shape and have similar body types. As with all wars there are two sides that have opposing ideas and something generally separates them from each other. The wall with barbed wire on the top shows the combat of the men to get to the other side, to “win” the struggle. Wisdom I believe is shown in this structure as the men all look serious and have very solid looking stances. This shows that they are confident and prepared to break away from whatever barrier they may be facing. Each of the stances are unique and represent the differences among members of a group, even that may have the same ideas or opinions about a topic, or in this case the war they are fighting.

My Week....

This week I am struggling to come up with a blog post of the week. Currently I am trying to find the motivation to finish all my papers, and math webassign homework that I need to work on for the week. Mondays are definitely the longest days of my week as I have straight class from 12:00 until 7:15, and today I just happened to have a chemistry test at 5:00. I realized that I now am not the biggest fan of classes back to back like this with no breaks, and having classes so late at night. I have been trying to plan my schedule for next semester and I have now changed my schedule so I now have more morning classes and I end my day earlier. Surprisingly, unlike many college students last semester I had 8am classes and enjoyed getting my classes out of the way earlier in the day. On the topic of registration I have heard many peoples ideas about the new UAaccess system. Many people have not been too thrilled about this system being put in place for registering for classes. I have already put the classes I want for next semester into my shopping cart. Many people think this website is an added stress, but I have actually found it useful and helpful because I like to plan out my schedule ahead of time and this allows me to actually do this. Also I am able to look at my teachers ahead of time, which is something I like to do to prepare my schedule.

Happy Easter!!!

So I do realize that there are many people that don’t celebrate Easter, but at my house it always has been an important holiday. On Easter Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Easter is one of the days many people whether very religious or not actually attend Christian churches. Easter is the day that Jesus came back to life after he was raised from the dead and three days after is death on the cross. As a Christian this is a very important holiday that makes me remember that Jesus died for us. At my house we always have family and friends over for a very delicious meal, so I am definitely looking forward to having a wonderful feast tomorrow! :) Decorating eggs, having a visit from the Easter bunny and having Easter egg hunts are fun pastimes that sadly we no longer do to celebrate on Easter. Although my parents just may buy my brother and I some candy or chocolate! A funny story that I usually think of when I think of Easter is when I was a young girl, my brother was two and I was about 4 years old and we were on an Easter egg hunt in the house and I would collect all my eggs and put them into my basket. My brother would instead of actually looking for eggs just grab them out of my basket and put them into his. I surprisingly never realized this, but I guess in the end it didn’t really matter who had more eggs in their basket, it was all just a matter of fun. I hope all of you that celebrate Easter have a fun day! and for those of you that don't I wish you a great Sunday as well!