Semester Reflection Part 2

What four-year college/s are you interested in and why?

For now, I have narrowed my search down to art colleges. My hypothesis is that if I go to an art college, I can not only complete the necessary courses for my GED, but also get an idea for the art business. It would be a perfect transition from school to work. I could definitely get an internship through school, and then segway into a full time job. Some colleges I am looking at are:

Otis College Of Art

UCLA

Maine College of Art

San Diego State

Seattle Pacific University

Describe your vision for yourself in pursuing higher education.

My vision for myself beyond high school and college, is one day working for a design company or a large clothing company, doing design or advertising. I feel like this is what I should be doing, and so this is why I plan on going to an art college. I would learn the real design process and gain experience through working with the teachers and mentors in college.

What is a quality in a classmate that you would like to develop in yourself?

I would have to say that the biggest quality in a classmate in which I would like to develop in myself is focus. I have a really hard time dedicating all of my time to one thing at a time. I see this quality in several of my close friends, and it helps them complete assignments, goals and projects on time and with high quality. This skill would do the same for me, and I think next year, I will have enough on my plate that I will have no other option but to focus extremely hard on each thing.

What is the greatest challenge facing your generation? What will be necessary to address it?

I think the biggest problem facing my generation is the ability to solve problems and complete goals without someone holding our hand the whole time. We need to be less dependent on other people, and adapt the mindset that the generations before us had. We have new technologies now that have allowed us to become addicted to instant gratification. We now depend on these new technologies to solve problems for us, and have forgot how to solve them on our own.

Semester Reflection 1

What project was most valuable to you, and what have you gained from it?

My most valuable project this year was definitely Ampersand. I did the cover for the book, providing me with a great portfolio item for college, as well as writing a piece I am extremely proud of. My topic was one that was very meaningful to me, that applied to me and that I was/am feeling. My piece was about the teenage job market, and the recession's affect on adults. It was full of evidence and composed of over 6 full scale revisions. I am extremely proud of everything I did with that project, and I believe I made something that will help me in the future. Therefore making it my most valuable project.

Describe one valuable mistake you made this year.

A mistake I made this year was not taking more leadership roles in Humanities. I was concentrating more on playing it safe, instead of taking a risk and challenging myself. I decided to end this cycle by taking on the lawyer role in the Mock Trial project. I went into the project very nervous about the amount of work I was getting myself into. It was hard getting used to, especially because the project was only a week. However, this didn't change the workload. As I progressed through the project, the research turned into fun. I enjoyed finding points to ruin someone else's. So I guess my biggest mistake was not taking more of these opportunities.

What challenges do you face as a student in a project-based learning environment?

Some challenges I face as a student in a Project-based learning environment, is the option to work alone. You don't get lot of these chances normally, however this year I did. I took advantage of these in projects like Media Saves The Beach, in which I created an art piece and a research paper alone. The art piece went on to be sold to Larry Rosenstock . I would have to say that is the biggest challenge in an project based learning environment.

Writing Reflection

When I walked through the 11^th grade commons before exhibition, I read a piece of my writing from the beginning of the year. It was for the American Icons project, and as I read it, I couldn’t believe I wrote it. Full of repetitive sentences, constant “-ing” verbs, and way too many sledgehammer words. Immediately after, I went inside and read my Ampersand piece. I was astonished with the differences.

I realized that when you follow the writing tips, it fixes every problem you are having with your piece. When I eliminated “-ing” verbs, my piece sounded more professional and began to flow a lot better.

Example from piece:

Before

Men and women in their 50's and 60's left stocking shelves, working the register, bagging, all tasks which my parents described themselves doing when they were teenagers.

After

Men and women in their 50’s and 60’s left to stock shelves, work the register, bag–
all tasks which my parents described themselves doing when they were teenagers.

In my ampersand piece I also began to use evidence more to my advantage. My piece was about the teenage job market, and the recession's affect on adults. I use a lot of evidence, 99% from primary sources. Research papers by the Census, Department of Labor, etc.

Example from piece:

“Teenagers who deliver newspapers, bag groceries, or serve hamburgers in their after-school jobs are often more likely to go to college and have better lifelong careers. And make more money, too,” wrote Alexis M. Herman, Secretary U.S. Department of Labor in Report on the Youth Labor Force in June of 2000.

In the future, I hope to write fluently with all the writing tips in mind. Ampersand was my best piece of writing this year, and still, I made several revisions the whole way through. I continually referred to the writing tips list constantly, and in the future, I hope they stay installed in my head.

Historical Buddy?

I think I would most like to run into FDR. He seems like the nice nerdy kid in a wheelchair. Now, he wasn't diagnosed with polio until later in his life, but I would like to picture him in a wheelchair his whole life. We would be in the library together, and I would ask him to help me with a history paper about the founding fathers. He is my age, but looks much older, and busier, but he helps me anyway.

We carry on talking, and our conversation becomes a casual get to know type of conversation. He tells me he has been dating a girl named Eleanor and is planning on marrying her as well. I disagree with his decision and asked him if he was afraid of getting old. "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," he replied.

He was working on a political paper. I am in no way a politician, but he seemed to carry on talking as if I knew anything about what he was saying. He kept describing himself, "I am neither bitter nor cynical but I do wish there was less immaturity in political thinking." That I understood. He had an interesting way of communication that the dumbest of the dumbest even understood what he was talking about.

I chose FDR because he seems like an interesting person that I could see myself actually getting along with. An optimist with a strong sense of humor. Everyone fell in love with FDR, what is stopping me?

Sources!

FDR Inaugural Speech

Second- No Known Source. Couldn't Find.

Housemate- Gatsby

If you could bring one character from any one book that we have read this year with you when you go to college, who would bring? Why?

Straight up Gatsby. I would want him to be my housemate in college; not only would he have no trouble paying for necessities as well as "recreational activities" but he would be the perfect partner in the way that he would help hook it up with cute girls at every function that we would throw. He is a good looking guy, but also he has kind of a sketchy side as well which I do not appreciate, but in this case I am using early book style Gatsby, before he became a softy. The bootlegging part of his identity isn't too much of a problem anymore, considering prohibition came to an end in 1933.

With Daisy out of his life, he would become the perfect roomate. No more crying in the middle of the night, and running around complaining about his problems. None of that. So off we would go on our quest for knowledge and the college experience one day at a time. Enjoying each others company for the following 4 years.