Saturday, January 26, 2008
Personal Essay Topic
The topic that I have chosen for my personal essay is my experience living with my brother who suffers with terrets, anxiety, and depression. I have chosen this topic because it has played a major role in my life since I was ten years old. Throughout those years and to now, I have always been asking myself why is this happening? What am I supposed to do? Will this ever stop, or will always have an uncomfortable feeling being around him, or talking about him? I have also always been trying to see how my own personality has changed during that time, and how I treat other people who might be dealing with the same or more severe problems.
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
My Writing Artifacts
Throughout this past week, I have been gathering whatever I have written. My writings could be handwritten, electronic, formal, or informal. The goal of this activity was to see what kind of writer I am during different situations in my life. It shows what kind of writer I am as a friend, student, and brother/son.
For the most part, the only time I use a formal style of writing is when I am in school turning in a paper, for a scholarship nomination, or something along those lines. When I do this, I sit and think out what I am going to write most of the time. On the other hand, especially now in college, I use a lot of informal writing when I take notes in classes. I am always rushed in classes trying to write down what they are saying in their lectures, so I have abbreviate words a lot of the time to where I can still go back and understand what I wrote. The most common abbreviations I use are "w/" for "with" and "b/c" for "because." I also leave out unnecessary words such as "the" or "a."
As a friend, I am very relaxed, and do not worry so much about how I write. Most of my writing is done electroniclly through text messaging, e-mails, or instant messaging. In order to save time, I use a lot of text abbreviations or symbols. It is a type of slang. For instance, I use the number 2 for the word "to," or in a word like 2day for "today." The only time I can think of when I write something handwritten to a friend is on birthday cards. Technology has really changed and simplified how I communicate with my friends.
However, when I write to my parents or brothers/sister, it is informal with more handwritten notes. I often leave notes on our counter reminding my mom or dad to get something when they go to the grocery store, or something like that. Text messaging is also a way I write to my parent. But when I write this way, I still have to use complete words for the most part because they are not up to speed with the slang terms yet. My dad usually uses the picture messaging. Even when I work for my dad during the summers, it is very informal. I just have to keep inventory and write down dates when shipments were received. My brothers & sister and I communicate through text messaging or e-mail. It is very informal, and we use a lot of the slang terms, as I do with my friends.
As you can tell most of my writing is informal. To me it is much easier, and as long as I know what I wrote down and the other person I am satisfied.
For the most part, the only time I use a formal style of writing is when I am in school turning in a paper, for a scholarship nomination, or something along those lines. When I do this, I sit and think out what I am going to write most of the time. On the other hand, especially now in college, I use a lot of informal writing when I take notes in classes. I am always rushed in classes trying to write down what they are saying in their lectures, so I have abbreviate words a lot of the time to where I can still go back and understand what I wrote. The most common abbreviations I use are "w/" for "with" and "b/c" for "because." I also leave out unnecessary words such as "the" or "a."
As a friend, I am very relaxed, and do not worry so much about how I write. Most of my writing is done electroniclly through text messaging, e-mails, or instant messaging. In order to save time, I use a lot of text abbreviations or symbols. It is a type of slang. For instance, I use the number 2 for the word "to," or in a word like 2day for "today." The only time I can think of when I write something handwritten to a friend is on birthday cards. Technology has really changed and simplified how I communicate with my friends.
However, when I write to my parents or brothers/sister, it is informal with more handwritten notes. I often leave notes on our counter reminding my mom or dad to get something when they go to the grocery store, or something like that. Text messaging is also a way I write to my parent. But when I write this way, I still have to use complete words for the most part because they are not up to speed with the slang terms yet. My dad usually uses the picture messaging. Even when I work for my dad during the summers, it is very informal. I just have to keep inventory and write down dates when shipments were received. My brothers & sister and I communicate through text messaging or e-mail. It is very informal, and we use a lot of the slang terms, as I do with my friends.
As you can tell most of my writing is informal. To me it is much easier, and as long as I know what I wrote down and the other person I am satisfied.
Believing to Write Well
In order to do well in anything, it requires that you believe in yourself. If you have a negative attitude toward something, you become closed minded and probably won't do well. I know this from playing sports. I have had games where I see my team not believing that we could beat a team, and sure enough we get pounded. On the other hand, I have beaten schools that our team believed that we could beat even though no one else did.
It is just the same as in writing, as long as you believe that you can write well most likely you will. I believe that I can write well if I started to get into writing more. It is difficult for me to sit down and write. I feel that there are so many other things that I would rather be doing, and I constantly push off my writing assignments to the last minute. I don't believe that I have ever sat down and wrote for fun unless you count instant messaging or text messaging. Writing has never been my strong point in school, but if I know that in order to change that, I need to start believing that I can write.
It is just the same as in writing, as long as you believe that you can write well most likely you will. I believe that I can write well if I started to get into writing more. It is difficult for me to sit down and write. I feel that there are so many other things that I would rather be doing, and I constantly push off my writing assignments to the last minute. I don't believe that I have ever sat down and wrote for fun unless you count instant messaging or text messaging. Writing has never been my strong point in school, but if I know that in order to change that, I need to start believing that I can write.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Introduction
How's it goin'? My name is Steven, and I come all the way from Bakersfield, California. I am currently in my first year at TCU. Texas is awesome. It has been a nice change of scenery, and I am enjoying everything here. Currently I am undecided on my major, but I am leaning towards majoring in business financing, or kinesiology. I am a huge sports fan. Sports have been a part of life ever since I was born. I started playing baseball and soccer when I was three years old. My favorite sports to play are football, baseball, and basketball. I enjoy watching college football and the Los Angeles Dodgers. I really want to get into coaching football after I graduate. One of hobbies is traveling. My favorite place to go is Lake Tahoe up in northern California. I go up there every summer for about two weeks.
Writing has never been my strength in school. I'm more of a math guy. The only writing I do are emails and text message. I pretty much only write papers or essays whenever I have to. My favorite writings would have to be reviews or editorials. I like to give my opinions on issues rather than writing a research paper on some one's life. One of the reasons I dislike writing is because it seems that I always get writer's block. I have good ideas, but sometimes it takes me forever to figure a way to write down. My biggest influence on my writing was my freshmen English teacher. She really helped me to write better papers using more evidence to help support my thesis. She also helped me expand my vocabulary (which is still a little weak). I am hoping that by taking this class I can further improve my writing because I know that if I go into business, I better be ready to write.
I read and agree to the syllabus.
Writing has never been my strength in school. I'm more of a math guy. The only writing I do are emails and text message. I pretty much only write papers or essays whenever I have to. My favorite writings would have to be reviews or editorials. I like to give my opinions on issues rather than writing a research paper on some one's life. One of the reasons I dislike writing is because it seems that I always get writer's block. I have good ideas, but sometimes it takes me forever to figure a way to write down. My biggest influence on my writing was my freshmen English teacher. She really helped me to write better papers using more evidence to help support my thesis. She also helped me expand my vocabulary (which is still a little weak). I am hoping that by taking this class I can further improve my writing because I know that if I go into business, I better be ready to write.
I read and agree to the syllabus.
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